












■<^^ n^ o « o . '^ 

0-^ 


















^..r :mUA^ "^^^'^^ "^1^°: ^^K'^ 



./x 







^ * o « -^ ^> 



J. -> 




^oV" 



^ 











UNIVERSITE DE LOUVAIN 



RECUEIL DE TRAVAUX 

PUBLIES PAR LES MEMBRES 

DES CONFERENCES D'HISTOIRE ET DE PHILOLOGIE 

sous LA DIRECTION DE 

MM. F. Bethune, A. Cauchie, G. Doutrepont, R. Maere, Ch. Moeller et E. Remy 

PROFESSEURS A LA FACULTe' DE PHILOSOPHIE ET LETTRES 



DEUXIEME SERIE 



25me FASCICULE 



Religion 



in 

Neyv Netherland 

1623-1664 

By FREDERICK J. ZWIERLEIN, L. D. 

PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY AT ST. BERNARD'S SEMINARY 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 




1910 

JOHN P. SMITH PRINTING COMPANY 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



^•^,4li^'-i^^M.. ! 



t 



o ^ 



w 



r^-- :n' E D i: R /r'^ 



^ L.i.ult vanB.iduua ^•"" C/U""'-- ^"^ 'Vl K2ilC','/.tl 



X O V . \ B K L G J C A) \\.. l!s I E U AV 

O I let. .CO. -x 




S Y E 

llr.viELAT. R 5- ;;g^w Y c K 



■ I" ' , i' 7- r ■^■"- '^JL^r^ 




\vv.pl4pinecs 1 V , —~~J<X^ 




VAN DER DONCK'S MAlp qf AMSTERDAM-16S6 
With view of I^g^^, Amsterdam 



M jf ^i Tj!i t?*f •»>> ^^i .^^} ♦f'l . 

ff[ <fi 4 j4 .o^', 4 ;«t >nt , 

[ '4 till ^?; -'^^ ^ € /<! .:«i 

^i '< *C 4 i*t .|€ Kt: .;^^l .'•♦i : 

»?; ♦»^ -i'^ tf' ^ Vi^ '«?f ^^^ 'll^ 

\f ;>f ■'< V '.*<' i^^ i#f^ Hi \n\ i 



^ <-}'([ 



II.. rj 









^ v^l 4 i«i *4 '^^T '^! K^ |9* ■; 

Y.il T**r ..I ;Mi rm- .Ul «> 'tff '» 



^i '^: 4 X *»^.^ <* .^«^.t .;<^i .''^i ■> 

■^t; u^ '>'"■ M' .< '^^t '*^- ^^*'' *^ 

g^ ;-< :< V \^' -itf. ;|«^ -l^f il^ M 



Iff u; 



jf .If- 



ijf 4ir 



f 



7.^ 



@1# 



\m 9 t»ti 



i^t M ;€ -« M ;rii ^^ ^i •»? 

;f{ Jf ^1 it(L ^4 «»f '^J ♦^ ♦f^Jp., 

■'C "^i '•^i j'ti !*'■ "^ ;''^ v*''!. 

r V:ir V.»r '..f W»| ^; .^j;^ ^.-* 



«r' t>f. 



^ *nf .|I6 Vf»i ;iJf }^l 



:f \< ■iifl :tt:- -ir^ if|| I 



r ifx ft- 

'■ Ml n 
ffi ill' ii 









1 1'Sl- =« 

T»( /if 

•a' >4 



•1/ fc 



OPUS QUOD INSCRIBITUR : Tijligion in New 

Netherlands a history of the development of the 

religious conditions in the Province of New 

Nether land (1623 -1664) BY F. J, ZWIERLEIN, 

EX AUCTORITATE EMINENTISSIMI ET REVEREN- 

DISSIMI CARDINALIS ARCHIEPISCOPI MECHLI- 

NIENSIS ET LEGUM ACADEMICARUM PR^- 

SCRIPTO RECOGNITUM, QUUM FIDEI AUT BONIS 

MORIBUS CONTRARIUM NIHIL CONTINERE VISUM 

FUERIT, IMPRIMI POTEST. 

P. LADEUZE, 

RECT. UNIV. 

Datum Lovanii, die ig Aprilis, A. D. igio 



Nihil Obstat 

J. F. GOGGIN, 

CENSOR LIBRORUM 

Imprimatur 

t THOMAS, 

EPISCOPUS ROFFENSIS 

Datum %offa, die XI Mali, MCMX 



pt •^c,«.«.m:^;«m ■4,: 

4 ;1.,4 M i\ . . .^ j-^ J% • 



'!.;<.. 4 •* !»^. .!< ,)«^f.4.>Hi 

'*!• »*«. 'J* « .*!( «r 'ii?r \-{i:- Hi. 

f ;>f ■'< V ■'^- i^f :?<• -Jfj \^l :' 

^i f^ 

r It fftg. 



■ W hi: 

r*/ fit ;1 

f ;# iff 

ha. "lii '% 

•If iK 



vi PREFACE 

in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century, has 
been the source of much error in many pubUcations 
deaUng with the beginnings of the State of New York. 
References to such histories, even when at varience with 
the main conclusions of this book, have been avoided 
as much as possible, as the author preferred to present 
the results of his work in a positive and not in a 
polemic light. 

Special thanks are due to the officials in the Hall of 
Records of Kings County, and in the Hall of Records 
of New York, to the library staffs of Cornell University, 
of the Long Island Historical Society, to Mr. D . Ver- 
steeg of the Holland Society Library, and to many 
friends, who were always ready to give advice and as- 
sistance. In conclusion the author wishes to express 
his deep sense of indebtedness to Mr. Leo Kelly, who 
kindly corrected the proof sheets of this book. 



St. 'Bernard's Seminary, 
Rochester, N. Y., 
Easter, igio 






,f ,ft ,4, ,•(1 i»£ .!'.4, ;?. . . 1- ,.'• 



V< H ■«li •"< »«t 't >'' •' 



i»<l "w^f „"-L ."'J .' 'i •-> 

■: ,^. v*f V \^: -ii/; .uf iiff i«i^ ti 

, '■«■'' ^.i!" la/' 



.;\- ^c *?^;. 






36 
61 



."^^ }^ 


€ K . 


»f i*' 


.f- ~'^C 




'if; *'a^' 




I m-' ^; 


?«l .':^, 


tf, m K. 


^iC '^^ . 



K < *<■' 






1/' V- '^ii 



i i?C'€ '€ '*^t 'A m 1% -M 
N[ v*t ^1 i«l ^A M '^ ♦^^i? i*^! ;< 

v'4 M ii M^ :^ m -fif 'c^ ,'^ 
1 H 4^ i»S '< ^«^ •* •^^t i* 

^i.t ».« .4»"' «i'W (|f "^ J 'ill!- 



; H/ fit' a 

?if' ♦if ^ 



' Vf 'iir 

ri&. >ir >M 



2 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the rule, that only the Reformed Religion should be 
exercised within your province." 

The policy of religious repression pursued in the 
Province of New Netherland on the outbreak of organ- 
ized dissent was not merely local in character. The 
colonial clergy, the natural custodians of the colony's 
orthodoxy, merited for their zeal in this regard the 
commendation of their ecclesiastical superiors in Hol- 
land, the Classis of Amsterdam, which insisted quite as 
vigorously with the Directors of the West India Com- 
pany in the Amsterdam Chamber on the repression of 
dissent in the colony, as the colonial clergy did with the 
civil authorities in the Province of New Netherland. 
The Director General did not fail to adopt all measures 
he judged necessary to fulfill the oath which bound him 
to maintain the exclusive worship of the Reformed Re- 
ligion, and the Directors in Holland did not at any time 
repudiate the policy of excluding all other worship, but 
they tried to persuade Stuyvesant to admit some con- 
nivance in regard to dissent, if this were possible, as they 
feared injury to the material interests of the Company, 
unless the policy of religious repression was tempered 
by some moderation. To insure this, all repressive 
ordinances were finally ordered to be submitted to the 
Directors before their promulgation in the province, 
but as late as the summer of 1663 one of the Directors 
plainly told the Quaker, John Bowne, that the religious 
liberty he demanded in New Netherland was not 
granted there. 

Religious conditions, however, were not uniform 
throughout the entire province, but were differentiated 
largely by the character of the local immigration. The 



f{ >!C ml ill »Hf .»*{ -!<! ••*.? !«f .!.< 



{ ■< t «l *»?'■ '* .'J'^i .;■'■ ♦ 



• i«c ^>f :^ '»^' -wt^f "lilt \^i i^} 01 












)4C ^'' ^'J^l 



i; ■■"1/ •■M 



4 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

charter, and finally the inhabitants of the same town at 
the instigation of Tobias Feake appealed to the charter 
in their protest against Stuyvesant's prohibition to give 
entertainment to the Quakers, but not at any time nor 
in any place did a body of English colonists^ appeal to 
their charter to justify the organization of "unortho- 
dox" worship in public or in private conventicles. 
The religious conditions obtaining in the South, or 
Delaware, River country were closely dependent on the 
political changes effected in the course of its history. 
Occupied by a Dutch trading post and a few straggling 
settlers, it could not resist the intrusion of the Lutheran 
Swedes and the founding of New Sweden with the 
establishment of the Lutheran State Church. The 
admission of Dutch colonists from Utrecht with the 
privilege of exercising the Reformed worship attests for 
this region a greater degree of religious liberty than 
existed in any part of the Province of New Netherland. 
The conquest of New Sweden by the Dutch did not 
terminate Lutheran worship on the South River, as the 
outbreak of Indian hostilities necessitated the tolera- 
tion of .the Swedish worship with the ministration of 
one of their ministers. The expenses of this invasion 
put the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Com- 
pany deeply in debt to the City of Amsterdam, which 
now in compensation for its loan acquired a tract of 
land on the South River, where the exclusive exercise of 
the Reformed worship was maintained, until the official 
orthodoxy had to give way to obtain colonists to 

* John Bowne appealed to the Flushing charter in his arguments 
with the Directors at Amsterdam, but they refused to admit the 
appeal, as the charter was granted before the arrival of Quakers in 
the colony. 









i4. '<. 



^ 


1 


■ 



'v^' in? ilt )«(t .^^t ** 

^ , \f(l til 









.■. lift- »f 






7K' »s<'_;t 









6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

this respect, but there is ample proof that the oath was 
administered to subordinates in the colonial government 
and to the officials of the patroon Kilian van Rensselaer. 
Officials of Rensselaerswyck swore to promote ' ' the true 
and pure service of God in conformity with the Christian 
Reformed Religion." The "Nine Select Men" , appointed 
by Stuyvesant in 1647 to represent the people, were also 
"to promote the honor of God and the welfare of our 
dear Fatherland to the best advantage of the Company 
and the prosperity of our good citizens, and to the 
preservation of the pure Reformed Religion." On the 
creation of a municipal court at New Amsterdam in 
1653, the Burgomasters and Schepens were bound 
"under oath to help maintain the true Reformed Re- 
ligion and to suffer no other." The vice-directors, 
appointed on the conquest of New Sweden for that 
region, were sworn "to promote the Reformed Re- 
ligion," but Lutheran Swedes were also retained for 
inferior offices. Then on the erection of a small court 
of justice at Wiltwyck in 1661, the commissaries had 
also to swear that they would "maintain and exercise 
the Reformed Church service and no other." The 
judges were, therefore, to be "professors of the Re- 
formed Religion." Even the court-clerk had to prom- 
ise to promote "the glory of God and the pure service 
of His Word." There could hardly be any question of 
a religious qualification of this kind for office-holding in 
the towns settled almost entirely by English dissenters, 
but even here the Director General and Council did not 
fail to insist on a religious qualification when an op- 
portunity to do so was presented. "The English do 
not only enjoy the right of nominating their own magis- 



i Jtl -4 *«i *4 /^^l # **^^ !%;* 



f ifl >fi .^i u»£ ^t '<K . •■e .|« 






I 



fi >ff[ -Hi xHi '4 •»»! >^ *^f !«? . 

if ,f j[ :#i ,-4 M .«4 ^.*^. , . • ej 
'4. '.iS '4. ^ '4 >U- -. 

1 ''^^ 4 X ttj; 1*1 j«l .;* ..»«i 



14 !* < 



I 



iff' tl^ 



i»s 'If; 

< iif; > 



1 K: K 

%i fit ■('( 

l»^C '4: 



;*(: n{' ;?i! 
irf iir 



lO RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

The religious history of the Dutch RepubHc in this 
period is closely interwoven with the history of its 
struggle against the Spanish power. Dissatisfaction with 
the Spanish administration in the Netherlands had be- 
come so general towards the end of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, that all provinces united to obtain from their hered- 
itary sovereign the withdrawal of the Spanish soldiery 
and the recognition of their ancient charters and liber- 
ties. This national movement developed in spite of 
internal religious differences. In fact, a provisional 
settlement of the religious issue was effected in 1576 by 
the treaty of union known as the Pacification of Ghent. 
The fifteen Catholic provinces came to an agreement 
with the two Calvinist provinces and deferred the 
definitive regulation of the religious question in those 
places, where Calvinism had been established to the 
exclusion of the Catholic worship, until the convoca- 
tion of the States General after the successful expulsion 
of the Spanish soldiers and their adherents. These 
regions comprised the two provinces of Holland and 
Zealand with Bommel and allied territories. Mean- 
while, access to the Catholic and Calvinist provinces was 
to be free to the subjects and inhabitants of either side, 
provided nothing prejudicial to Catholic faith and wor- 
ship was attempted outside of Holland and Zealand and 
their allied territories. Every infraction of this pro- 
vision either by deed or word was punishable as a dis- 
turbance of the public peace. However, conditions 
were made quite tolerable for the Calvinists in the 
Catholic provinces, as all placards formerly published 
against heresy and all criminal ordinances of the Duke 
of Alva were suspended, except in a breach of the public 



"i- V'*! /t^ J:^l ■'^i J-'U. ^^^It .yia .,^.r 

1^ vC 4 ^^i *4 •'" ^"^^ •'^r ♦% 

Aj^ A^^ :«^^^^ '^t .4.^- 

•»*; u«. •»•' ;»<;'• '^^ 'j^ " ^ '14 

: • % )€ 



II 



>» ^ .^ ^^^ 



-if; .1^ 
.-it; •<' 






'; iff' ;if, 

^ ;t V 
.If: '.ir- 

Til' hi 

•if ii^ 



i».i*: htk 



12 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

refuse to yield to the demands of the States, and in the 
hope that the delay would bring about an infection of 
the Catholic provinces with Protestantism, which would 
furnish a pretext for the demand of the general tolera- 
tion of Calvinism in all the Netherlands. The Calvin- 
ists were destined to be disappointed. When Don John 
was fully persuaded that the Pacification of Ghent con- 
tained nothing contrary to the Catholic Religion and the 
authority of the King, he came to an agreement 
with the States General, which was confirmed in the 
Perpetual Edict of February 17, 1577. While the 
eleventh article recorded the pledge given by the States 
General at Luxemburg to maintain in everything and 
everywhere the Catholic Religion, the sixteenth article 
was careful to note that all the provisions of the Edict 
were subject to the articles of the Pacification of Ghent, 
which remained in full force. Before the ratification of 
this treaty, the States General had sent an embassy to 
the Prince of Orange to inform him of its contents and 
to explain that the pledge of the States General to 
maintain the Catholic Religion in everything and every- 
where had been taken at Luxemburg before the 
States of Holland and Zealand had joined the assembly 
of the States General at Brussels and consequently was 
binding only on the fifteen Catholic provinces.^ The 
Prince and the States of Holland and Zealand made 
some complaints, but offered to sign the treaty, if the 
States General promised first to have recourse to arms 



^ This shows how erroneous is Blok's deduction: "The Catholic 
Religion was to be maintained everywhere (thus also in Holland 
and Zealand). This last stipulation was flagrantly at odds with 
the Pacification, etc." Blok, A History of the People of the 
Netherlands, iii. p. 114. 



l>fVAA-'^iM^nJr\.%,? 



13 



vJ' ^ii< yfv 






ixf . '>f 



L AVI ♦' 

^< < /' 

/• itf- ^ 
Its' ♦s< ^ 

yiit ■?>( ^* 

jjr it- 

,1/' V -'M 

1 ijf iir 



14 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to come to the city to give advice in the crisis. He 
soon dominated the negotiations and frustrated the 
attempts at a reconciliation with Don John. The 
arrival of the Archduke Matthias complicated the 
situation. He had been invited by some of the nobles, 
under the leadership of the Duke of Arschot, to replace 
Don John and to prevent the elevation of the Prince 
of Orange to this position, but the Archduke soon 
fell under the influence of William of Orange, who was 
created his lieutenant general at the request of 
Queen Elizabeth of England. The Prince's power 
had already been increased by his nomination as 
Governor of Brabant, which had been obtained 
from the States of that province by the exertion of 
violent popular pressure under the influence of his 
partisans. About the same time, the Duke of Arschot 
had been elected Governor of Flanders, but in the 
course of the session of the States of Flanders at Ghent 
the Prince and his adherents fomented a revolt, which 
resulted in the imprisonment of the Duke and some 
other Catholic leaders. A reign of terror under Calvin- 
ist tyranny ensued in Ghent, during which churches and 
monasteries were pillaged, monks and friars burnt alive, 
and the Blood Councillor Hessels and the ex-Procurator 
Visch hanged without any previous trial. ^ Similar 
flagrant violations of the Pacification of Ghent also 
took place elsewhere. Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels 
were made the scenes of incredible excesses by fanatic 
Calvinists. Retaliation on the part of Catholics ensued, 

^ The Rev, George Edmundson, M. A., writes: "William dis- 
claimed any share in this act of violence, but it is difficult 
altogether to exculpate him." The Cambridge Modem History, 
vol. iii. chap, vi. The Revolt of the Netherlands, p. 248. 



*fl 'ill H' '*H '^ 

V^ ii.r •iA -1^ 'uT jiJc n%^ 



^4 4 X *♦?. «« ^^ ;^ 
'»V: t.*. H*'- siT ?1»(' % ^i^f ... -^ 

V*c <ff :* w -M iiTf v«^ i«»^ ^*« 



15 



ttC 'III 






:C M. 






■ V,.: ^; ,1 






r»f> hi >3^ 

Iff iir 



l6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

attempt to execute its provisions. Meanwhile, the con- 
tinuation of Calvinistic excesses made the Catholic 
party realize the necessity of united action. The 
Union of Arras was formed on January 6, 1 579, to main- 
tain the PacijEication of Ghent, the Catholic faith, the 
obedience to the king and the privileges of the nation. 
Although the Union of Arras professed to be based on 
the Pacification of Ghent, the clause suspending the 
placards against heresy was suppressed. The forma- 
tion of this Catholic league hastened the establishment 
of a Protestant league, already in process of formation, 
towards the end of the same month, the Union of 
Utrecht, also for the avowed purpose of strengthening 
the previous general union of the Pacification of Ghent. 
Nevertheless, according to this agreement, Holland and 
Zealand were free to act as they pleased in regard to 
religion, while the other provinces united in this league 
were to regulate themselves in accordance with the pro- 
visions of the Peace of Religion. While there was no 
straight line of cleavage produced between the North 
and South by the formation of these hostile leagues, the 
beginning was made that developed into the formation 
of two separate commonwealths. The southern cities 
of Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, Lierre and the Franc 
du Bruges gave their hearty support to the Union of 
Utrecht, but finally had to yield to the authority of the 
Duke of Parma, whom the Catholic Malcontents had 
recognized by the treaty of May 19. The conquests of 
Parma always entailed the restoration of the Catholic 
faith and of the placards against heresy, but capital 
punishment was no longer inflicted for heresy after 
1597. Dissenters had the choice between reconciliation 



ifl i*lf U' '»il iC *i ••« , . 
|"X 4 t»fi Wf /'f -:«f.'*& '«>,V 

r Tfjf X .4' * "* i-^i ;«^ .** i' 

k 'Kl «£ 4 -4 »tt'^'<«*'>:.*fj. 

'rv '^:* ..»'■ ^.»' .<i.r «fci .•»!/ 



■ r*£ 'ff :^ "\^' -lilt!? 'nj' Ti^; 'm'l ** 



17 



.♦sC M 






'MM/ 

ff, m: ill 



(/i^r; ".«:• 



ftfk "tt "^M 






l8 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Nevertheless, all intention to burden or to make inqui- 
sition into any man's conscience was disclaimed by the 
legislators. 

The French protectorate proved a failure in spite of 
all the efforts of William of Orange after his recovery 
from the wound inflicted in the attempted assassination 
on March i8, 1582, The Duke of Anjou had arrived in 
the beginning of the year, after the States General had 
previously abjured their allegiance to Philip II, The 
failure of Anjou in his attempt to obtain independence 
by the seizure of several cities made a continuance of 
his sovereignty practically impossible. However, the 
Prince of Orange persisted in negotiating for a recon- 
ciliation until the day of the Duke's death, June 10, 
1584, as he then saw no hope of help from the English 
Queen nor from the Lutheran Germans, who would 
have oppressed the Calvinists on the acquisition of 
power. Meanwhile, the States of Holland, Zealand and 
Utrecht were planning to confer sovereign authority 
over themselves on the Prince of Orange, who, according 
to one of the articles of the pact projected on this 
occasion, was to maintain exclusively the "true Re- 
formed Religion," but without molestation of anyone 
on account of his belief. Before these plans matured, 
William of Orange was murdered by Balthassar Gerard, 
to whom the publication of the King's ban had suggested 
the deed. This action entailed an increase of severity 
in the measures for the repression of the Catholics, 
amongst whom some had manifested satisfaction in the 
death of the main author of the revolt that had cost 
them the free exercise of their religion. The placard of 
November 21, 1584, decreed banishment for all organ- 



•fi 4 r^i .*-*& 






;»f .< :# W iiti iiiV ii(| i«if ti5 



19 





I 


i 


























-r iW» ';)^, 
J 'ii; fii \i' 

' If i< 

;.x( •%' 
■■rf W. 

■< it 

•^ %l VV^^ 



Iff <ir 



20 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the strict principles of the Calvinist zealots. The 
Church Order then adopted was provisionally approved 
by the States but with the reservation of the right to exer- 
cise supervision over church and school. 

After the departure of Leicester, the executive 
power of the Council of State, on account of the objec- 
tionable presence of the three Englishmen amongst its 
members, was gradually absorbed by the States General, 
in which the influence of Holland predominated. The 
consolidation of these provinces into the federal state of 
the Dutch Republic was largely due to the ability of 
Holland's great statesman, the Advocate John van 
Oldenbamevelt, supported by the able soldier, Maurice 
of Nassau, who had been appointed Captain General 
and Admiral of the Union by the States General. The 
union of all the Stadtholderates in the person of Maurice, 
with the exception of Friesland, where his cousin Wil- 
liam Lewis of Nassau held that position, was a great 
step towards the unification of the country. There 
was hardly any need of Holland to instruct this 
ardent Calvinist as its Stadtholder to maintain the 
Reformed Religion. As early as June 23, 1587, he 
had published an ordinance prohibiting pilgrimages 
and "other superstitions, "under a fine of twenty-four 
Carolus florins for each offense. This oppressive placard 
was renewed in 1588, 1590, 1591, and in more 
vigorous terms in 1647, no doubt on account of its 
frequent infraction. The offensive campaigns of Maurice 
cleared the federated provinces of Spanish garrisons 
and resulted in the formation of the new province 
of Stadt en Landen by the union of the city of 
Groningen with the Ommelands under the Stadtholder 



' '4 -^ M »»^' «^r Ki .;% }^1 .:'* 
i'^ Tff :«r \*^' iif? i«v ifr V% *•! 



21 



r 



, rf, iff ilfr 

n. V* if 






nf ill 

Fir fit ji 
i'( ne ;?tl 






W it 



22 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the peace negotiations which ensued led to the conclu- 
sion of the truce for twelve years on April 9, 1609. 
The plenipotentiaries of Albert and Isabella, although 
supported by President Jeannin, the saver of the Hu- 
guenots of Dijon after the night of St. Bartholomew, 
could obtain no concession in favor of Catholic worship 
except the promise that the States and Prince Maurice 
would respect the exclusive exercise of the Catholic 
Religion in the Brabant territory occupied by the 
troops of the Republic. Soon frequent complaints 
were made of the violation of this promise by the Hol- 
landers. During the negotiations for the truce, the 
States General had shown themselves absolutely opposed 
to the free exercise of "papist " worship within their ter- 
ritories, and even denied the King of Spain the right to 
raise the question, as all decision in this matter entailed 
the exercise of sovereignty, and consequently could 
only depend on the sovereign States themselves. Mean- 
while, the Calvinist ministers were representing the 
demand of the King of Spain for freedom of Catholic 
worship as the initial step to the reconquest of the rebel- 
lious provinces. Under these conditions, the king, on 
the ratijEication of the truce, could only express the hope 
that the States would treat kindly the Catholics who 
went among them during the time of its duration. 
Jeannin, prior to his departure, insisted again on the 
concession of religious freedom to Catholics, but the 
States could only be induced to promise in a general 
way that they would act with moderation. As soon 
as the news of the murder of Henry IV (May 14, 16 10), 
whom Prince Maurice was preparing to assist in the 
reduction of the Duchy of Cleves, arrived in the United 



a M # >tjr ,sj, «i 'if *i . ■^i 






23 



; 






' ril- ?»(' 

f: .»fi mc 

IS' '»?' ,11 



: 'i^ ftji tt! 



J4 >w 

.If; ".If; 

.; Irs '-^l 

.si" il? 






24 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the Jews had their synagogues, the Mahometans their 
meetings and all kinds of sects their conventicles; the 
Catholics alone were excluded from all participation in 
the toleration of Holland. There were many Catholics 
in Friesland,^ but they could worship with safety only in 
the castles of the nobles, of whom many still gave a 
tepid allegiance to the old faith. In Geldem^ and Zea- 
land, Catholics possessed little liberty and had to 
assemble secretly for worship, while in Stadt en Landen 
the adherents of the old faith suffered more active per- 
secution. However, the condition of the Catholics was 
more tolerable in some of the cities. Through the con- 
nivance of the magistracy, which in several places was 
open to a bribe, the Catholics obtained a great deal of 
liberty in the exercise of their faith in Harlem, Gouda, 
Ley den, Alckmaar and Hoom.^ 

for the baptism of their children and for the celebration of marriage. 
A fine of 50 pounds was also placed on the witnesses and a fine of 400 
pounds on the persons instigating the act. The same penalties were 
decreed for attendance at papist conventicles. Wiltens-Scheltus, 
Kerkelyck Placaatboek, i. 526. 

^ Persecution of Catholics was most violent in this province. 
Thousands of Catholics found safety in flight, and only a small num- 
ber of priests remained in the province in deep concealment. 

' Here Catholics were numerous. The policy of the government 
was directed to paralyse their strength. In 1624 the States de- 
prived the clergy of the disposition of their revenues and declared 
null and void the sale, mortgaging, donation, exchange or any alien- 
ation of property on the part of "pretended" ecclesiastics or of papists 
in religious societies, sodalities and fraternities, etc. It was pleaded 
that many feared to adopt Calvinism and many returned to the old 
faith lest they might be disinherited. In 1640 the "klopjes" 
were declared incapable of receiving an inheritance. Finally 
measures were directed to the prevention of assemblies, that the 
Catholics attempted to facilitate by the removal of the walls 
between neighboring houses. For details cf. works of Knuttel and 
Hubert, with documents cited. 

3 This was true to a certain extent at The Hague, where the 
legations of the Kings of France and Portugal and of the Republic 
of Venice had their chapels, which remained open also to the inhabi- 
tants of the city in spite of the frequent protests of the States of Hol- 
land at the instigation of The Hague consistory. 



vl =i$ nj f€ '4 ,€ !tf J«^ . m . 

I M 4 H '4 '4 '^ ♦'^^ !*»* .!« 



■ V, 4 Mnii iHi .5< :.4 .<<(i .^« 

'it'i u<. ^i*" (j^' .i(' '« 'tf.f Kt; 'ifr 



25 



Ml- i^- 
^ *J11 iff 



;^\ .'11 ♦^^ 

-r »s( ^ 



^i hi' n 






26 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

National Church Synod, but Oldenbamevelt feared lest 
the triumph of this party should lead to the domination 
of the Church over the State, and through his influence 
the proposals were rejected. To secure peace, the 
States of Holland, in January, 1 6 1 4, prohibited the dis- 
cussion of disputed questions by the preachers in the 
pulpits and enjoined moderation in such abstruse 
matters. Violent opposition to this measure arose in 
several important towns, also in Amsterdam, but 
Oldenbamevelt was determined to overcome all 
opposition. When Maurice, who had begun to dis- 
trust the Advocate, gave his support to the 
Counter-Remonstrants and encouraged their oppo- 
sition to the authority of the States, Oldenbame- 
velt succeeded in inducing the States of Holland, 
in December, 1616, to raise a force of four thousand 
men to be at the disposal of the magistrates for the 
enforcement of order. Although the two Stadtholders 
commanded the votes of four out of seven provinces 
in the States General, this assembly decreed the con- 
vocation of the National Synod by only a narrow 
majority. The States of Holland, in spite of a power- 
ful minority supported by Calvinist opinion through- 
out the province, refused to concur in the resolution 
of the States General. The seizure of a church at 
The Hague for the Counter-Remonstrants under the 
direction of Maurice led to the adoption of the 
"Scherpe Resolutie," proposed by the Advocate to 
the States of Holland, which refused to approve 
any convocation of a synod, national or provincial, 
infringing the sovereign rights and supremacy of 
the States in religious affairs. The city magistrates 
were directed to uphold the peace and to levy new 



[ >fi"A A i^i J^ M *«« ;«^f .5 



'^Jk^.f' 



>(^^ 4 .< i»fi- i€ }/l M .'"fj .;•■ 

■-' •• :i'" U; l>^ <H '«/ !■«»> 'Hi 
"# ■••'■ Mf ;»?' ittf tlf f- 



27 



* 



..At.- 



28 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

and eighteen political commissioners representing the 
States. The Remonstrant minority was immediately 
put on trial for its teaching by the remainder of the 
Synod, from which they were finally ordered to with- 
draw after violent altercation. They then assembled 
in Rotterdam, where they denounced the tyranny of the 
dominant party, who condemned the Remonstrants as 
schismatics and heretics, and declared them unfit to 
hold any position in the churches, schools and univer- 
sities of the country. The former liberal movement in 
favor of a revision of the Creeds of the Dutch Reformed 
Church was definitely checked by the Synod's approval 
of the Netherland Confession and the Heidelberg Cate- 
chism without any change, as the orthodox Calvinist 
faith was thought to be briefly but completely set forth 
in these. Now the States General imposed the "Act of 
Cessation," on pain of banishment, which deprived the 
Remonstrants of the right to preach and reduced them 
to the condition of private individuals. Only one of the 
Remonstrant members of the Synod signed ; the remain- 
ing fourteen were forced to go into exile. In July, 1619, 
the States General prohibited the assemblies of the 
Remonstrants, but the ordinance was not enforced in 
the larger towns, as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Gouda, 
although this connivance greatly annoyed the Calvinist 
zealots. In all about two hundred Remonstrant 
preachers were deposed and of these seventy signed the 
Act of Cessation, about forty finally accepted the 
articles of Dortdrecht, with restoration to the ministry 
as a reward, and about eighty went into exile. These 
last attacked the dominant party, "the Httle ministers 
of the new Holland inquisition, " with a mass of pam- 



^4 4M 4 r»ff ..^t ii^f m ,;^. 
.f^ 4 A M ., . ,^ /^/'Ll^ 



\fi[ i*f[ if 



•I. /, <v «. A- 

,•; St < 
.;^; ?«^ H 



'ip- fS.J HJ, 

( \^' '^ , 
>K' ■'$<'" ^V 

,' '»!? i< 
Iv, M .^^ 



\tf it i 



30 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

rily in the lands of the RepubHc, under the penalty of 
being arrested and imprisoned as enemies of the State. 
A second offense on their part entailed punishment for 
disturbance of the public peace. Their hosts in the 
land were subject to a fine of one hundred pounds 
Flemish for the first offense, double the sum for the 
second offense, and to the penalty of corporal punish- 
ment and banishment for the third offense. The 
priests who previously had been authorized to reside 
in the Republic were bound to report their names and 
places of residence to the local magistrate, if they 
wished to continue the enjoyment of this privilege. 
All correspondence with foreign ecclesiastics was pro- 
hibited to the subjects of the Republic, and letters of this 
kind were to be surrendered to the magistrate on their 
receipt under a fine of fifty pounds for every infraction 
of the law. Catholic ceremonies were interdicted not 
only in the churches but also in private houses. The 
master of the house was subject to a fine of two hundred 
florins, each person present to a fine of twenty-five 
florins, and the officiatingpriest to the penalty of ban- 
ishment. The priests who preached disobedience to these 
laws were to be prosecuted for sedition and subjected 
to corporal punishment, "even unto death," according 
to the gravity of the offense. Attendance at foreign 
Jesuit schools was again forbidden, and parents were 
ordered to recall their children from such places under 
a fine of one hundred florins for each month of delay. 
The congregations of devout women, "klopjes," were to 
be dissolved at once. Protestant orphans were not to 
be confided to the care of Catholic guardians, but to the 
care of the magistrate, if they had no near relations of 



X «! "si '4 <'^ '«* ."^f J** -J"! 

4 k ■^C'ftj'J j%-;'«?^^;*sj 



Hi. ri(' ' 

^^ '^ '^. 
: ♦&][[ '«[ 'I 



/r ^rf; Jiff 



i '* K 
r in; ^*f 

?K' n<' 'tJT 

.IT' H 






32 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

able intervention of a stranger in the internal affairs of 
the Republic. A resolution was then passed by the 
States General to complete the penal legislation against 
Catholics on the plea that impunity to propagators of 
"Catholic superstitions" and the introduction of the 
papist hierarchy entailed undeniable dangers for public 
safety. The French plenipotentiary, Count d'Estrades, 
was not more successful in his attempt to have an 
article incorporated in the capitulation of the city of 
Hulst, granting the public exercise of the Catholic wor- 
ship. When Frederick Henry transmitted the petition 
to the States General, the assembly expressed their 
great astonishment at this pernicious proposition. 
In the following year, when the French and 
Dutch planned a joint attack on Antwerp, Cardinal 
Mazarin was able to obtain only the grudging consent of 
his Dutch allies to the concession of four churches for 
Catholic worship on the conquest of this city. The 
joint expedition never took place. 

The conclusion of the general peace of Miinster in 
1648 brought to the Republic a recognition of its sov- 
ereignty by Spain. The Catholics, sorely harassed in 
the past by the oppressive measures of the States Gen- 
eral, which had often been anticipated and even rein- 
forced by the penal legislation of the provincial States 
and of the town councils, hoped for some relaxation of 
the persecution with the cessation of hostilities, but the 
Calvinist clergy was loud in its protestations against 
any concession to "Roman idolatry," which would 
surely bring upon the Republic the anger of God. In 
spite of the opposition of the States of Holland, some 
relaxation was ordered by the States General within the 



M 4^n[ ^4 »>^ *^t *# m ;«j 

C -Ni ;*{ ift '*r ■: ^^" .4,.%. 

Vft >^ .^li i^ _ . ;. .^ft-*^! 
^^»f ^« ,^ M :«& ?^ /^t ;^ 

'< 4 X ^*^ ^«6 ^*^ .•'6 z*^ -^^t 
eyf <if :rf, W' -iff; iii^ iiTf ini tifi 



33 



>«' K' -■ 
n' ?Jfcl '^ 

; \^: 'sit I 

'r{ ;-^ ■-. 

1^, ni} 'n' 



.; h/ V- 



34 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

lution adopted by the assembly, which decreed the main- 
tenance of the ordinances of the National Synod of 
Dortdrecht, the enforcement of the placards against 
the Catholics and the retention of other sects "in all 
good order and quiet." The execution of this decree 
fell far short of the desires of the Calvinist ministers, 
who continually assailed the civil authorities with 
their remonstrances, and Catholics and sometimes 
adherents of other persuasions had continually to fear 
the penalties that might be inflicted according to law 
by the magistrates under pressure of the ministers. 
Government circles were not so inimical to the consider- 
ations which De la Court advanced. He believed that 
self-interest should prevent the dominant Calvinists 
from the attempt to suppress people of other persua- 
sions, who were in the majority even in Holland, as per- 
secution might provoke their emigration, to the great loss 
of the country. He tells us that most of the "old in- 
habitants," peasants, moneyed men, and nobles in that 
province were still Catholics, while there were also 
many Protestants, but mostly Mennonites or Rijns- 
burgers. In spite of all past vexatious measures, 
Catholics still formed a large majority of the population 
in the Provinces of Utrecht, Gelderland and Overyssel, 
although many of the Reformed were to be found in 
some districts, as the Veluwe, since John of Nassau 
was able to throw his influence into the balance. De la 
Torre's report of 1656 gives a very small number of 
Catholics for the three northern provinces, and Blok in 
his history estimates the number of Catholics above the 
Meuse at about half a million. This geographical dis- 
tribution of the confessions represents the condition of 



4»1 iiif UT lUi .«II A-l^ i'bi !9h. ««i 



v>t -n *^1 *•% '^/^^i i'^^f '^.^ ;■' 



35 



>4 -iif: : 



^ ^^ ^ 

:'li ?«f Jit 



Jit ^l' '• 

hr fit m 

•j^' fsi^ ?r' 



H(- '^M -iif 



'I' /H, 



i*,r). V- "iM;- 
W ^\[ it 



;?f iir. .« 



CHAPTER II 

General Relations of Church and State 
IN New Netherland 

The successful organization of the Dutch East India 
Company in 1602 rendered feasible the formation of a 
West India Company to realize more effectually the 
humiliation of the power of Spain. Very early William 
Ussellinx, an ardent Calvinist and an enemy to "all 
heretics and erring spirits," advocated the organization 
of such a commercial company to prey on the Spanish 
possessions, from which their enemy drew the "sinews 
of war, ' ' and to plant there the saving faith and the gos- 
pel of Jesus Christ, whereby the heathen might be res- 
cued from the darkness of idolatry and be preserved 
from papistry.^ Although the plan became popular, it 
was opposed by the East India Company, which feared 
for its monopoly, and by Oldenbamevelt, who was 
anxious to avoid new complications with Spain. The 
successful negotiation of a truce in 1609 made any 
further effort on the part of Ussellinx fruitless. Never- 
theless, in the very same year, the discoveries of Henry 
Hudson on the North American coast, while employed 
by the Dutch East India Company in the search of a 

* Cf . O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Netherland, i. 31; prospectus 
for W. I. Co., Arg. Gust. p. 51, Jameson, William Usselinx,A. H. A. 
Papers, ii. 39. 

(36) 



[ j»C X .« :^i AM^i^^J^ 



f&^^E^i 



[ K^tl -4 i?Ji *'4 «*^^ ^-^f *^f ♦^'?- 
^ .fi .«([ ^4 .1^ .. . . . /. . 



€^-^C^ w !«; i«^ :^f >tfi .r 









■ <Mf[ 'Hi 'I 

>< ^ »lf[ 



?f '.ili iff' 
i ^ fi^ ^«g -^ 

Jl 'it: "i^ 






1; j^f ".ir- J 

\ • .5!- ilf ^' 



1.' n/ V: 



38 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

of the Elector Palatine Frederick, is said to have urged 
this scheme to promote the Protestant cause in the 
Bohemian war. During the discussion of the drafts 
of the charter of the West India Company, Ferdinand 
had become Emperor, the Elector Palatine, the nephew 
of Prince Maurice and Count Frederick, had been 
chosen King of Bohemia, and the combination had 
been formed for the overthrow of the latter. The 
cause of Protestantism in Bohemia and especially of 
the German Calvinists appealed to the sympathies of 
the party now ruling in the United Provinces, but in the 
end the controlling factor in shaping the new organiza- 
tion was the proximate expiration of the truce with 
Spain and the renewal of hostilities.^ 

The interests of the new company naturally centered 
in the Spanish seas about Brazil and the West Indies, 
while the Province of New Netherland received scant 
attention, although organized colonization began 
there almost as soon as the time for the subscriptions to 
the company terminated in 1623. When the question 
of religion presented itself in regard to the colony, 
the West India Company, the proprietor of the 
province, assumed the same authority which the civil 
power exercised in religious matters within the United 
Provinces. In addition, the right of patronage was 
claimed by the company over the colonial church. 
Usselinx had proposed in his plan the establishment of 
a council or college of theologians, who were to supply 
the company with godly ministers and teachers to 
instruct not only the colonists and their children, but 

^ Jameson, William Usselinx, A. H. A. Papers if. 66-67. 



[M 'A A . ;^ A ^€. jA M.m 



'1^ -^ ^ i*i? <C }/l /*& /»^.r 

*V; ♦*», .'r" ft(:' ?H(' <|#^ 'tf*. t-?ij.' 'lit' 

r*f v V '.*^' -i^f: W^ t«fir in) k?^ 



39 



15:. ?jif .« 



X sin 






^iJ f|] \v 

• -If W . 
w M ^V- 

\ \'^'^ -^ 

lif:. hi' H' 
i ^ic ¥ \< 
jv^ ..t!' 4 



40 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

1624 by the Synod of North Holland, which gave to the 
Classis the charge of all the ecclesiastical interests in the 
colonies under the care of the Chamber located within 
the limits of its jurisdiction.^ This practical solution 
of the question of the supervision of the colonial 
churches was immediately protested by deputies from 
Utrecht, Overyssel and especially of Gelderland, who 
held that the matter equally concerned all the churches 
of the land, and demanded that at least deputies from 
their respective synods might be admitted to a general 
assembly of delegates from the churches and classes, 
which had charge of colonial churches.^ Such a general 
assembly, which had first been suggested by the Synod 
of North Holland at the expense of the commercial com- 
pany with jurisdiction over these colonies,' never was 
realized, and the individual classes continued to take 
charge of the colonial churches of the respective cham- 
bers within their jurisdiction. According to this rule, 
ministers were first sent to the colonies by the Classes of 
Hoom and Enkhuysen, but, with the concentration of 
business at Amsterdam, this classis acquired almost 
exclusive control of the colonial churches, although it 
was not authorized to do this any more than other 
classes, where there were chambers of the companies.* 
As early as 1628 Michaelius, the first minister of New 
Netherland, recognized the consistory of Amsterdam as 
the superior ecclesiastical authority of the colony.^ 

^ Synod of North Holland, Aug, 6, etc., 1624. Eccl. Recs. 
N.Y., i. 38-39. 

'Synod of North Holland, 1625, Aug. 12, etc. Ibid. 39, 
3 Synod of North Holland, Aug. 6, 1624. Ibid 38-39. 
* Synod of North Holland, Aug. i, 1639. Ibid. 126. 
^ Michaelius to Smoutius. Ibid. 54. 



C •«! /«[ fit '«f; .■■■. 



41 



V \^- -iiil -.ff- yfj[. |(i$^ \Mil 












'»;::■ '«: !i( 

1r iif. ;«. 
: .•-.i '.'ir ttf 
■': >4. }*? 

'iJ fS.J 1H 

; v^f ':^ ' 
?»' 'sC ^SlI 

■'■ ':^ iff 



, .if.' il? i 



42 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

copies of the minutes of these classes and of any docu- 
ments bearing on these matters. If any difficulties 
arose in regard to doctrine or church polity in the colo- 
nial churches, which could not be readily solved by the 
particular classis or synod, the advice of the synods of 
the land was to sought, unless there could be no delay, 
and then the facts of the case were to be communicated 
to them. The last article in this plan shows that the 
protesting synods wished to make it possible for persons 
under their jurisdiction to serve the colonial church. 
Those who manifested such a desire were to be held in 
good commendation by the classes in charge of such 
churches, provided they had the necessary qualifica- 
tions.^ Although the Synod of South Holland provis- 
ionally accepted these propositions, it gained the 
approval of other synods very slowly.^ By 1648 it was 
accepted by all the synods, except Utrecht, which 
finally also agreed to the plan two years later. ^ Thus 
the Classis of Amsterdam remained undisturbed in the 
direction and supervision of the colonial church of New 
Netherland. Ministers, Comforters of the Sick, and 
Schoolmasters had to qualify themselves for work in 
New Netherland before the Classis, who then presented 
them to the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber, and 
on their appointment gave them the necessary call, for 
which. a special formula had been adopted in 1636.* The 

1 Synod of North Holland, Aug. 12, etc. Eccl. Recs. N. Y, 
i. 158-161. 

2 Synod of North Holland, 1643, Ibid. 173-4, etc.; 

1644, Aug. II, etc., Art. 28. Ibid. 183-4; 1645, Aug. 8, etc.. Art 
20. Ibid. 190. 

3 Synod of North Holland, 1648, Aug, 11, etc., Jbid.232; 1650, 
Aug. 6, etc., Ibid. 277-8. 

4Cf. Ibid. 92-99. 



>ij4 „»c ,:«i M -*4 'tf M , «*i 

vflf JSi i«i '% •»t^ '* "5f ifl* '•• 



'<. « € w; i*i ,5< .■»^) .'<^i .)• 

iS: •«!■ ff"''»(|r .X '«, '«!'. HSli- 'Ifr 

iff, -Jf :* ■■•^' ■"?: -lit fiTf i«li 6; 



?i^ ^J^ lit 
.% l^- lit 

}w^ 'iT ii 

': Mi !«'.■ i 
•iS' f^' ?»:' 



?«' '^sC \^ 
^H' ?;ll ^*3 



IV^ V W' 
iv '%{' i€ 




44 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ment of the Dutch Reformed Church in the charter of 
Privileges and Exemptions of 1640. At this time, the 
Classis of Amsterdam feared that an appeal on the part 
of the Lutherans for freedom of public worship might be 
allowed by the States General, but their fear was ground- 
less, and nothing was done to revoke the exclusive 
establishment of the Reformed Church of New Nether- 
land. 

Within the Province of New Netherland, the govern- 
ment was vested in the Director General, assisted by an 
advisory council, upon whom all other officials of the 
company in the colony were dependent for their 
authority.^ The Director, as supreme magistrate, 
retained the direct control of the colonial church even 
after the establishment of inferior local courts in vil- 
lages and in the city of New Amsterdam. The local 
courts had no jurisdiction over criminals and delin- 
quents guilty of blasphemy, violation of God's Holy 
Name and religion. Such cases were reserved to the 
judgment of the Provincial Court. ^ All measures rela- 
tive to the erection of churches and schools and the 
support of these institutions had to be confirmed, 
approved and commanded by the Director General and 
Council, except when there was question of churches 
established within patroonships, such as Rensselaers- 
wyck on the North River and New Amstel on the South 
River. ^ Comforters of the Sick, ministers and school- 
masters were usually appointed by the Directors of the 
Amsterdam Chamber, commissioned by the Classis of 

* Cf. Osgood, The Am. Colonies in the 17th Century, ii. 100, sqc[* 
' This is the reason why the town minutes of this period contain 
little information on the religious life of the people. 
3 Cf. Col. Docs. N. Y., xiii. 198. 






^ 'JL /«?i .r*i ;''i J" 

.?c >«e :% M .j% *!^ .. ^ -^j: t 

iir .i.r .^ \i( 'i/i it):. v8.' ?^v' A?f 11 



' W iifl -.si: V#^ t^; fcU^ 

i^^t- '^i '^- 



. . ■■■* ,«^ V 



f».^ '»t M 

{lit /if j?r 
nt ■?*( ^v 



^*/;n ■**/' w 
>?r ^ir :« 



46 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ber of persons for the office, from which the Director 
General and Council selected a new church warden.^ 

The school, which was also a religious institution, 
was likewise under the direct control of the colonial 
government. The presumption of Jacob van Corlaer 
to teach in a school without the order of the Director 
General and Council brought a very clear assertion of 
the powers of the government, which then refused to 
grant the requisite permission even in spite of the hum- 
ble supplication of the Burghers and inhabitants and 
the intercession of the Burgomasters and some Schepens. 
Stuyvesant declared that "school teaching and the 
induction of a schoolmaster depends absolutely on the 
right of patronage."^ This principle found a good 
illustration in the petition of the'^magistrates of Bos- 
wyck, who requested the approval of their contract 
with Boudewyn Maenhout as reader and schoolmaster. 
The Director General and Council fulfilled the request 
on the condition that the schoolmaster be first exam- 
ined by the reverend clergy of New Amsterdam and 
declared fit for the performance of his duties.^ This 
regulation was probably due to the place of religion in 
the Dutch colonial school, where the principles and fun- 
damentals of the Christian religion were also to be incul- 
cated. One of the last ordinances of the Dutch provin- 
cial government ordered the two schoolmasters of New 
Amsterdam, Pietersen of the principal school and Van 
Hoboocken of the branch school in the Bouwery, to 
bring their children to the church on Wednesday to be 

■^ Cf. Recs. New Amsterdam, vii. 142, 144, 175, 237, passim. 
^ Ibidii. 348; Col. Docs. N.Y., xiv. 412, 413-14. 
^Cotmcil minute, Dec. 28, 1662, Ibid 519. 



Iff ' f ■m <«i -1 '^i i*^« -■''■f ;*« 
■I M 4 *€ '€ «l ':4 Ilk Ji i 

'€M :4 M M ;-< "'^i /'.yi 












48 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to the observance of general public morals. This was 
especially true of the directorship of Peter Stuyvesant. 
He published with much greater frequency than 
his predecessors days of public prayer and thanks- 
giving, which he ordered to be celebrated with 
sermons and prayers in the English as well as the 
Dutch churches of the province. This was done 
sometimes to placate divine wrath, outraged by the sins 
of the people, sometimes to avert the impending evil 
of an Indian war or of a pestilential disease, sometimes 
to preserve the purity of the Calvinist faith endan- 
gered by the growth of dissent ; in a word, to implore 
temporal and spiritual blessings for Church and State. ^ 
Wherever he noticed grave abuses in the religious and 
moral life of the people, he attempted to remedy the 
evil. Although there was an ordinance not to tap beer 
during divine service, as early as 1641, the conflict 
between the former minister of New Amsterdam, the 
Reverend Everardus Bogardus, and the former Di- 
rector General William Kieft, had trained the people to 
the violation of the Sabbath. Shortly after his arrival, 
Stuyvesant saw that "the disregard, nay contempt, of 
God's holy laws and ordinances, which command us to 
keep holy in His Honor His day of rest, the Sabbath, 
and forbid all bodily injury and murder," was due to 
the prevalence of drunkenness amongst the inhabitants. 
He, therefore, prohibited all brewers, tapsters and inn- 
keepers, on the Lord's day of rest, to "entertain people, 
tap or draw any wine, beer or strong waters of any kind 
and under any pretext before two o'clock in case there 
is no preaching, or else before four, except to a traveler 

^ Passim in Col. Docs. N. Y., i, ii, iii, xii, xiii, xiv. 



Ji .4 *?5i 4 ^^ *^ .♦'^f ^ ;**i 



49 









■f 



ivi :-K 't 
!*r•^ >|/' W- 



' >?r fir 



50 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

crafts and business, be it in houses, cellars, shops, 
ships, yachts, or on the streets and market places," 
were forbidden, "under the penalty of forfeiting all 
such wares, goods and merchandise and of redeem- 
ing them with the payment of twenty-five florins, 
to be applied until further orders for the support 
of the poor and the churches, besides a fine of one 
pound Flemish, payable by purchaser as well as 
seller, employee as well as employer, half of it going 
to the officer, the other half at the discretion of the 
court." Any person violating the Sabbath by ex- 
cessive drinking, ''to his disgrace and the offense 
of others," was subject to arrest by the Fiscal or 
any superior or inferior officer, and to arbitrary pun- 
ishment by the court/ Regulations were also made to 
restrict the number of taverns, and to punish the sale 
of liquor to the Indians. 

The ordinances for the observance of Sunday were 
not intended to be enforced only at New Amsterdam. 
As soon as the whole of the South River again came 
under the authority of the West India Company, 
in 1655, the vice-director, Jean Paul Jacquet, and his 
commissaries were instructed "to observe and have 
observed the placards and ordinances made and 
published heretofore against drinking on the Sabbath 
and the profanation of the same."^ 

The severity of the law was increased considerably in 
1656. The Director General and Council forbade on the 
Lord's day of rest ' ' the usual work of plowing, sowing, 

^ Ordinance, April 29, 1648. Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 9. 

2 Provisional Instructions. Nov. 29, 1655. Col. Docs. N, Y., xii. 



Xif ^< -^ '^^ -i^i ;if vfj| ]ni mi 



\A ^ "^ 



>■ .», V- -., i^ 

j^<r /it K 

?y' ^5^ ,^vj 
'I* ?>( % 

■jif; '.If- i; 

^v(' *:.H 'tf 



24; 



« .?f fir 'X 



52 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

double as much for the second offense, "and four 
times double as much" for the third offense. The 
same penalties were decreed for the sale of liquor on 
Sunday, and the drunkard found on this day was to be 
conveyed to the guardhouse, where he was to remain 
at the discretion of the commissaries and in addition 
was to be fined one pound Flemish for the benefit of 
the oflEicer who arrested the prisoner/ In 1663, Stuy- 
vesant complained not only that the Sunday laws were 
not observed, but that they were "by some misinter- 
preted and misconstrued, as if the previously enacted 
placards referred to and applied to the maintenance and 
sanctification of only half the Sabbath." The Director 
General and Council, therefore, commanded the observ- 
ance not only of a part but of the whole Sabbath, 
and warned the people that, "pending the Sabbath, 
from the rising to the setting of the sun, no customary 
labor shall be performed, much less clubs kept." The 
Director General and Council also forbade ' ' all unusual 
exercises, such as games, boat, cart or wagon racing, 
fishing, fowling, running, sailing, nutting or picking 
strawberries, trafficking with the Indians or any like 
things, and amongst other things all dissolute and licen- 
tious plays, riots, calling children out to the streets and 
highways." The penalty for the violation of this ordi- 
nance was the forfeiture of the upper garment (het 
Oppercleet) or six guilders, according to the decision of 
the court, for the first offense, double for the second, and 
exemplary punishment for the third offense.^ The pla- 

^ Ordinance, Nov. 18, 1661. Laws and Ordinances of New 
Netherland, 415-16. 

2 Ordinance, Sept. 10, 1663. Recs. New Amsterdam, iv. 301-2. 



IM tf '«! <C € -€ •'% . * -^ 
m 4 ^^i ^ ^^-^i i'*^ ri . ^ . - 

'4n .^t 4 ^^ '^-^'fe ■" 

My[ «/r '4 M ?st '4_.^^- . ^ 
^*<1 « ¥ W Vl*t '^ .^»fe .)% 



'^ '4^' -m 



^t ^- ^' 
jjr >if J^ 

rf, "if iW 1 

m '»?■ .??• 
/^: i< 'si 



;5r i^ M 

U '^4 W 
Iff .IT .ft:- 



54 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Some of the delinquents were then summoned before 
the Director General and Council to be tried and 
fined for contempt. Several behaved insolently to- 
wards the chief magistracy, and were committed by 
the Director General and Council to prison/ On the 
protest of the Burgomasters and Schepens, the Director 
General and Council informed them that the establish- 
ment of an inferior court of justice under the name 
Schout, Burgomasters, and Schepens or Commissaries in 
no way infringed or diminished "the power and authority 
of the Director General and Council to enact any ordi- 
nances or issue particular interdicts, especially those 
which tend to the glory of God, or the best interest of 
the inhabitants, or will prevent more sins, scandals, de- 
baucheries and crimes, and properly correct, fine and 
punish obstinate transgressors."^ When Cornelius van 
Tienhoven informed the Burgomasters and Schepens 
of the country-people's intention to ride the goose again 
in the following year, he was instructed, in response to 
his inquiry, "seasonably to declare the same to be 
illegal," as it had been forbidden by the Supreme 
Councillors.^ 

The prevalence of concubinage and irregularities in 
contracting matrimony, which occasioned the former, 
also called for Stuyvesant's intervention soon after his 
advent to the Province of New Netherland and 
repeatedly during the course of his administration. 
According to the laws of the Netherlands, and the 

^ Stuyvesant to Schout, Burgomasters and Schepens. Feb. 26, 
1654. Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 172; Col. Docs. N.Y., xiv. 249. 

2 Stuyvesant to Schout, Burgomaster and Schepens. Feb. 26, 
1654, Recs. New Amsterdam i. 173; Col. Docs. N. Y., xiv. 249. 

^Court minute. Feb. 8, 1655. Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 286. 



t V ■^' -i^f^ 'l<^ 't«ii; H Mfti 

. < kill m 

' ^1i i#^ 5lf[ 

lii- **?; .;^.' 

•: 'm ^^ 

^ilT 't; ftt 

"*f MM. 



.If i< a 
v._ 'K M 



\Vt. 'ilf^ >ff 

'■ '^l ■■u" ' 
iff i«r 'X, 



56 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

nance was issued that prohibited this practice and 
bound the contracting parties to prove that their bans 
had been published where they had resided for the 
previous year.^ This legislation had been occasioned 
especially by the illegal proceedings of the Court of 
Gravesend, which published the bans of matrimony 
between Johan van Beeck and Maria Verleth, residents 
of New Amsterdam, without the consent of Stuyvesant, 
who had been made the guardian of the bridegroom by 
the father in Holland. This breach of the correct 
practice of the ecclesiastical and civil order of New 
Amsterdam was thought to prepare ' ' a way whereby 
hereafter some sons and daughters, unwilling to obey 
parents and guardians, will, contrary to their wishes, 
secretly go and get married in such villages or else- 
where. "^ The magistrates of Gravesend contended 
that van Beeck was a freeman of their village and that 
the intervention of the Director General in this matter 
was a violation of their charter, but Stuyvesant retorted 
that he was also a freeman of New Amsterdam and 
of Amsterdam, that matrimony must be concluded 
according to divine and human laws, with the consent 
of parents, tutors or guardians, and that no infraction of 
the privileges of their charter was intended.^ On Feb- 
ruary 10, 1654, the court messenger was sent to Graves- 
end to renew the marriage ordinance of the Province of 
New Netherland, and to declare all marriages not con- 
cluded according to this statute, unlawful, "as contrary 
to all civil and political laws and ordinances, in force 

1 O'Callaghan. Cal. Hist. MSS. (Dutch) i. p. 134. 

2 Court minute, Jan. 26, 1654. Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 155. 
^Stuyvesant to magistrates of Gravesend, Jan. 20, 1654, Col. 

Docs. N. Y., xiv. 243 ; Feb. 10, 1654, Ibid. 245-6. 



M, -A <'A »4 *'f '■'^ .'^f i"*" ■!"* 
W .1^ -*f tf6 t'4 ;.< A , . . . 

'Ck^OijC MI'S. ?%,;<!, 

:i^ •( X 'ffi s* .)«! j»^t .''<i A. 

•■«'■; ■>■'•■■«:• ill 'It '1^! I* '»t« .:«s. 



57 



^;,»- \./r- *:rii,'i 



', iff iW- 



^' ^ hi 

V. MM 



.s; i)^ M 
i*. 'i# W. 



l*?'^ Iv* \f/, 

i?r .«r '1 



58 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

was put Up by Johan van Beeck in various places of the 
city that contained this resolution of the Burgomasters 
and Schepens, the difficulties opposed by Director 
Stuyvesant to his marriage at Gravesend and at New 
Amsterdam, and his reasons for leaving the neighbor- 
hood to seek a safe retreat elsewhere.^ Stuyvesant 
immediately demanded a copy of the resolution of the 
municipal court, which he reiterated again a week later, 
and sent a letter to all governors, deputy governors, 
magistrates and Christian neighbors, setting forth that 
Johan van Beeck and Maria Verleth had run off to New 
England to get married, and requesting them not to 
solemnize the marriage, but to send back the runa- 
ways.^ When Stuyvesant learned that Van Beeck had 
been married by an unauthorized countryman, 
named Goodman Crab, living at Greenwich, against the 
laudable customs and laws of the United Netherlands, 
contrary to the advice and command of his lawful 
guardian, the Honorable Director General, and with- 
out a previous publication of the bans, he declared the 
marriage unlawful, and condemned Johan van Beeck 
and Maria Verleth to live separately under the penalty 
of being punished according to law for living in con- 
cubinage.^ Nevertheless, two years later Maria Ver- 
leth, the widow of Johan van Beeck, in the lawsuit for 
a surrender of letters addressed to her husband, that 
had arrived after his death, received a favorable decis- 
ion from the Burgomasters and Schepens who based 

F ^ 1 Council minute. Feb. 27, 1654. O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. MSS. 
(Dutch), i. 135-136; Stuyvesant to Burgomasters, etc., March 2, 
1654, Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 174. 

2 O'Callaghan, Ibid. 

3 Council minute. Sept. 14, 1654. Col. Docs. N. Y., xiv. 291. 



ji -4 iHi m .»»f ,^ .i^f <% ;i^ 



ii »»^ ^P-"')^' *l!|^ ^it^ ti^i M: 'iiv li 

r^ •.< V '.««'■ -i*i^ ;*f^ ri^ i^-; a4 






59 



*■ ^^ «*■ -v ■*- 












•Vf lit j^ 

jr ii^ M 

^ic. '\4- \^ 
J ,xr it ' 

'• hi '\s' • 

i?f ^«T X 



6o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

marriage, unless the parties had Hved at least a year and 
a half to two years in their district.^ 

There was, therefore, no lack of paternal legislation 
to uplift the tone of public morality and religion in 
the Province of New Netherland, at least during the 
directorship of Peter Stuyvesant. However, most of 
the measures adopted for this purpose found little 
response in the life of the people. The Dutch inhabi- 
tants were largely indifferent to religion; the professed 
members of the Dutch Reformed Church never ma- 
nifested great zeal in the practice of their faith ; and all 
attempts at the organization of dissenting worship 
were strictly prohibited by law, and did in fact entail 
persecution. 

1 O'Callaghan. Cal. Hist. MSS. (Dutch), i. 215. 



.fg. M[ :4 }^M ^^ ^^., . . . 

tc^^ ^ k 1^ )/i 4 A M, 



''11 i- *4ftv ••■ 

Wf "41: i 

t M Mi' 

n ''^ X 



'fc^ fSJ H»; 

fU' "^sj' ''^( 
■ ;if i< i-fi 
'if ?j^ 'V' 

' i^c "iu:- X 

■if- ^-M "'C . 

Jl' ilSf ilt' 

vir, H \-^ 

{«*: {^. \t: 

W vir i;." 



62 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

properly belonged to the ministerial office. This 
divine service was very simple. It consisted of prayer, 
singing of psalms, the reading of some chapters of the 
bible and of some sermon of an orthodox Reformed 
minister.^ This later became the model for the public 
worship allowed by the provincial authorities in the 
new settlements, English as well as Dutch, that could 
not be provided with an orthodox minister.^ In all 
gatherings of the people, the Comforters of the Sick led 
in prayer according to the nature of the occasion. In 
the community, they were to be the watchful custodians 
of the faith and of the moral law, who were to instruct 
the ignorant, admonish sinners to repentance and 
amendment of life, and encourage the weak to perse- 
verance in virtue. Accordingly on Sundays, Sebastian 
Jansz Crol and Jan Huyck read from the Scrip- 
tures and the commentaries to the commonalty that 
Minuit had concentrated on Manhattan Island. Mean- 
while, Franjois Molemacker was busily engaged in 
building a horsemill, over which was to be constructed 
a spacious room that would accommodate a large con- 
gregation. This structure was to be adorned with a 
tower, in which were to be hung the Spanish bells^cap- 
tured at Porto Rico by the Dutch fleet the preceeding 
year.^ 

^ Cf . Instructions for the Comforters of the Sick, Adopted in 
Classis of Amsterdam, May 5, 1636, Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i, 96-97. 

2 The same poHcy was also adopted in Brazil by the College of 
the XIX. "The smaller places shall be served by precentors, Com- 
forters of the Sick and schoolmasters, who shall offer up public 
prayers, read aloud from the Old and New Testament and from 
printed sermons; and tune the psalms." Proceedings of the 
College of the XIX. Ibid. 193. 

3 Narratives of New Netherland. Wassenaer's Historical Ver- 
hael. p. 83-4, Dyer points out the fact that, while the wooden 
structure erected solely for church pixrposes by Wouter Van Twiller 



i€''AA:M:AMM,%n 






.i.r MjV ^.yr 'y^ .,r. «£; <i; .j,?, ,4. 



*fr4 .«L !«' n ,»«fi- *r M ,>«fe-, 



''if '% -^ 

■ ^ ¥ A^ 



ft iy; Jlt If 

«iv' Ajfci.' «jft- 



'^ fii HI 
, W. "^^ 4 
isr *s<' '^^ ■ 

• >#: if( i'rf 

' '\M\ M: \- 

• \t. ^ \^ 

\tf it \ 



64 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

as elder in the Dutch and French churches respectively 
in Wesel. In the place of one of these elders, a new one 
was to be chosen every year from a double number 
lawfully proposed to the congregation. The occupa- 
tion of all the members of the first consistory in public 
business with the exception of the minister made 
Michaelius fear the possibility of confusion and dis- 
order in ecclesiastical and civil matters. To avoid this 
danger, he requested precise instructions for the gov- 
ernors of the Province and the Synodal acts for himself, 
so that the relations of Church and State might be well 
regulated.^ It is generally asserted that there is no 
trace of any misunderstanding between Minuit and 
Michaelius, but the Van Rensselaer-Bowier Manu- 
scripts disprove this. When the Director General and 
the secretary, Jan Van Remund, came into conflict with 
each other, the minister is declared to have been "very 
energetic here stirring up the fire between them; he 
ought to be a mediator in God's Church and community 
but he seems to me to be the contrary."^ Kiliaen van 
Rensselaer in writing to Wouter van Twiller puts the 
blame on the colonial secretary, who had excited the 
minister against Minuit.^ 

The church organized at New Amsterdam com- 
prised the Walloons and French, as well as the Dutch, 
although the Sunday service was performed only in the 
language of the latter, which all but a few individuals 
could understand. There was, therefore, no necessity 
for any special service in French, but Michaelius did 

*Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 52-53. 

2 Van Rensselaer Bowier MSS. ed. by A. S. Van Laer, 1908. p. 
169. 

*Ibid. pp. 267-8. 



i*^" * j4 .;# ^'fe A, 
f. '^H' *«C '«^^^ /*;*^;^ 

\^ -m iir, ^^( **?/■ ^L 



k ••'I '«] 



)Vi '^if.li 



^ ijf V 



'r 'u/^ H(. 



66 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

recognition of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Pro- 
vince of New Netherland. The slow progress made in 
the colonization of the country led the Company to 
grant to its members who should plant colonies there a 
charter of privileges and exemptions/ by which feudal 
rights were guaranteed to such patroons. At the same 
time, freedom of colonization with liberal privileges was 
also offered to private persons in the United Provinces, 
who should settle there either on their own account or 
in the service of their masters. According to the 
twenty-seventh article, "the Patroons and colonists 
shall in particular, and in the speediest manner endea- 
vor to find out ways and means, whereby they may 
support a Minister and schoolmaster, that thus the ser- 
vice of God and the zeal for religion may not grow cool 
and be neglected among them, and they shall from the 
first procure a Comforter of the Sick there y^ Thus 
the first charter granted for the colonization of New 
Netherland by the West India Company made the 
maintenance of the ministry of the Reformed Church 
obligatory on the part of the patroons and the colonists. 
The Dutch Reformed Church, therefore, obtained a 
legal recognition of its establishment in the Province as 
early as 1629. At the time of the negotiation of this 
charter, the West India Company was anxious to ap- 
pear in the light of the champion of the Dutch national 

^ Col. Docs. N. Y. ii. 551-7. Laws and Ordinances ^^of New 
Netherland. 9. 

2 The provision of the charter was not a piece of legislation 
adopted in particular for New Netherland, but is also found in the 
draft of the conditions for colonies in general by the College of the 
XIX, June 12, 1627 and November 22, 1628. Cf. Extract from Dutch 
Archives. U.S. Commission on Boundary between Venezuela and 
British Guiana, ii, pp. 52, 63. 



\m if M m •% -^l ^nl '^r i^ 
^€ A '^A ^4 '4 ^ ^^ i^i^i 



'. ^»'"' V ^M^ '^n^l' ># >^' # .'*3 

■9f "# V«^' -iill^ ;«l^ V|l| i«^ ^l 



'if 'til .^ 

:*n- /»t ;«l 



m % ti^ 
: i^. it 



■i3' fij' HJ' 

\fr i< it 

■if i-K- "^^ 
jr i< iff 

•^r H/' '■■M" 






68 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

characterized by De Vries as a "mean bam,"^ with a 
dwelUng house and stable adjoining for the use of the 
minister, the Reverend Bogardus. 

In the summer of the following year, the friendly 
relations between the Church and the Provincial author- 
ities were again disturbed.^ Although the occasion of 
the quarrel is unknown, Bogardus was accused of hav- 
ing sent a letter to Wouter Van Twiller, which was not 
dictated "by the spirit of the Lord," but "by a feeling 
unbecoming heathens, let alone Christians, much less a 
preacher of the Gospel. "# He is said to have described 
the Director as "a child of the devil, an incarnate vil- 
lain, whose buckgoats are better than he," and to have 
threatened him with "such a shake from the pulpit, on 
the following Sunday, as would make him shudder."^ 
Somewhat later the peace of the Church of New Amster- 
dam was again disturbed by the trouble arising between 
the minister and the Schout Fiscal of the Province, 
Lubertus van Dincklagen, who in 1636 was sent to Hol- 
land by the Director and deprived of his wages for three 
years for his censure of the bad administration of the 
Province. He claimed he had been excommunicated 
by the machinations of the Reverend Everardus 
Bogardus and driven into the wilderness to escape the 
persecution instituted against him, where for days he 

* Extracts from Voyages of David Pieterzen de Vries. N.Y. Hist. 
Soc. Col. 2d.Ser. iii, loi. 

2 Kiliaen van Rensselaer also puts the blame for this upon the 
secretary, Jan van Remund.who had stirred up the minister against 
Wouter Van Twiller. The Governor was accused of running "out 
on the street after the minister with a naked sword;" of being 
"proud and puffed up, always drunk as long as there is any wine. . . 
lazy and careless, hostile to the minister and no defender of relig- 
ion, etc." Van Rensselaer Bowier MSS. pp. 267-8, 271. 

'Summons of Bogardus before Council by Kieft. June 11, 1646. 
Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv, 69. 



;ff :s| 'ifil t^ i»f >■«€ .'4 j# ;% 



[ j«[ .«t :* m. /".f i 



4 "* ■•«L *«. <€i v«5. .;«(t .'"ft .;%, 



69 



»> /.. ■< '■ 

^ ill; tit 1(1 

>ii 'f ;t^: 
L )*■, )< J* 

'' iif. ;K ill 

^i^' ?Sl' Hf 
?r 'jI' >V 

■ i# i< t-ff 

•It '^4 'M 
iif iW .ft' 

f 'hi '-'ii' ■ 



yo RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

worthy pastor, the Reverend Everardus Bogardus," 
the ministers were determined to do justice towards 
LubbertusVan Dincklagen.^ The case was still pending 
in May, 1642, but the published documents of the Clas- 
sis fail to disclose its issue. 

A new impulse to colonization was given on July 
19, 1640, by the publication of a new charter of Free- 
doms and Exemptions which was extended to all in 
friendly relations with the Netherlands. The West 
India Company took this occasion to establish still more 
formally the Dutch Reformed Church. ''And no 
other religion shall be publicly admitted in New Nether- 
land, except the Reformed, as it is at present preached and 
practiced by public authority in the United Netherlands; 
and for this purpose the Company shall provide and main- 
tain good and suitable preachers, schoolmasters and Com- 
forters of the Sick. "^ Although this clause was intended 
to strengthen the position of the Dutch Reformed 
Church in the Province of New Netherland, the privi- 
leges extended by the charter to foreigners became the 
occasion of a large growth of dissent with the conse- 
quence of an attempt to infringe upon the exclusive 
establishment of the Reformed Church, which led to 
persecution. 

Greater zeal for the Reformed Religion was also 
manifested after the publication of the new charter of 
Freedoms and Exemptions. The need of a new and 
more substantial church had been felt for some time. 
In 1640 the Director and Council appropriated a por- 
tion of the fines imposed by the court of justice to raise 

^ Acts of Deputies, May 5, 1642. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i, 152. 
2C0I.D0CS.N. Y.i, 123. 



M ;8! T«i m -n '^ .'•^f m ;«i 

k Vi .€ .*i m >A ,;4/ts .M 

'-»-•♦- ^ •*--^ ■^— ..-.' r./"^ .iV. k»<?^ -■*.■ . Jf 1. 



.r« 4f[ ^s i« K ^fg /4 =c 

u^ ^^*:'- V M *i^ ?i^^ tc uii- .'iS 
. v^f '•# \*^' -m ,^: m inl ^t 



^^f K ;^ 



Kf M M 



;«f' W k?T 









•3^' f$i' HJ' 
:^' ^5^' '^lif 

•5^ rii* Tif 






?.*r.- rV. \Tf 



72 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

seventy-two feet long, fifty-two feet wide and sixteen 
feet high, for the sum of two thousand five hundred 
guilders.^ On the advice of De Vries, a site was chosen 
for the new church within the fort, that the faithful 
while assembled in worship might be guarded against 
a sudden attack of the Indians. The walls of the 
building were soon raised and the roof covered with oak 
shingles, but the immediate completion of the building 
was retarded by the rise of factions within the Dutch 
community and by the outbreak of Indian hostilities. 
The inscription on the church even became a matter of 
complaint to the commonalty against the government 
of Kieft, who asserted therein that he had the commun- 
ity build the temple. 

Sinno 1642; 
^ettt tie (Btmtzntt tit^m ^trnptl 2Doen 25outoen. 

A grievance was also later found in the position of 
the church in the fort, as "a fifth wheel to a coach," 
whereas the opponents of the governor would have pre- 
ferred it in a more central location for the greater acco- 
modation of the people at large. However, these 
objections were only urged after the development of 
unpleasant relations within the colony.^ 

The building activity of the church wardens at New 
Amsterdam had been stimulated largely by the intelli- 
gence that the colonists of Rensselaerswyck contem- 
plated the erection of a church. Although this colony had 

^ Cf. copy of the contract in O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Nether- 
land, i, 262 note I. 

2 Remonstrance of the People of New Netherland to the States 
General, July 28, 1649, Col. Docs. N. Y. i, 271-318; or Representa- 
tion of New Netherland. Narratives of New Netherland, p. 3 20. 



I m W ic '€ ^ *€ ?4 . ^ .^ 
:c 4 t?g ^4 *4 »4 .^"^ |# ;% 



■'^ \*^' -id^ \|f^ 'ri^ 'i«|j; Of^ 



• '• .V *• ^ 



^4 '4 .'k^: 



:W; "iT \m 

\<'. it ^ 

.5!' ^ it 
■ Hi -U' ■ 



74 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

minister from Holland.^ The schout, Jacob Planck, 
wrote that three hundred florins a year might be raised 
in the colony, but Kiliaen van Rensselaer knew full 
well, that no minister could be found to go there for that 
sum.^ Meanwhile, in response to the request of the 
patroon, Kieft allowed the minister at Manhattan occa- 
sionally to go to Rensselaerswyck to console and 
admonish the colonists there and to celebrate the 
Lord's Supper with them.^ 

Ten years after the foundation of the colony the 
exemption of the settlers from the payment of taxes 
ceased, and the patroon then expected to develop 
resources for the support of an organized ministry from 
the tithes to be paid by the inhabitants.^ He antici- 
pated within a short time sufficient revenue from this 
source for the erection of a small church, for which he 
himself sent the model, of a parsonage for the minister 
and of a dwelling for the sexton.^ However, the people 
of the colony opposed the payment of the tithes, to the 
great annoyance of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who 
thought it "childish to think of a minister going there 
from here to be paid by the inhabitants individually. 

^ Letter. Kiliaen van Rensselaer to Jacob Albertz Placnk 
October 3, 1636, Van Rensselaer-Bowier MSS. 328. Commission 
to Arent van Curler, as secretary and bookkeeper, May 12, 1639. 
Ibid. 434. 

2 Letter. Kiliaen van Rensselaer to Pieter van Munnickendam, 
May 8, 1638. Ibid. 408. 

2 Letter. Kiliaen van Rensselaer to William Kieft, May 17, 
1638. Ibid. 404. William Kieft to Kiliaen van Rensselaer August 
14, 1638. Ibid. 423, Kiliaen van Rensselaer to Kieft May 12, 1639. 
Ibid. 431. 

* Commission to Pieter Cornelisz van Munnickendam as receiver 
of tithes and supercargo of the vessel, May 12, 1639. Ibid, p 436. 

^ Cf . Instructions for Cornelis Teunisz van Breukelen as the rep- 
resentative of the patroon, August 4, 1639. Ibid. 459. Kiliaen van 
Rensselaer to Arent van Curler, July 18, 1641. Ibid. 561. 



I'i Ji ^fi ■fJ A.^«S *%.,«,: 



i*^' -i*f; ^1^: V# 1^ t»jV i 

. ^ ill; i% ' 

;^ jig ^' 

'^ 'A '4 

.€Kk 

y5 ^u: Iff 

M ill f?? 

\»f- .:^ :if, 

■;• »5<' ^ 'f 

iif i< *'^ 

■ ■?>{ W > 

AV it M 

.?5^ 111' W 



76 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

visions for the maintenance of the minister, whose ser- 
vices were engaged for six years. ^ When the ship was 
about to sail, the Directors of the West India Company 
unexpectedly claimed the exclusive right to approve 
the appointment of the colonial clergy. There was no 
time to argue the case without delaying the departure 
of the vessel, and a compromise was allowed by the 
patroon, who consented to the approval of the minis- 
ter's commission by the Directors without any pre- 
judice to his rights as patroon of the colony.^ 

Kiliaen van Rensselaer did not limit the authority 
of Domine Megapolensis to ecclesiastical matters, but 
also made the minister the arbiter of all disputes 
arising between the chief official of the colony, 
Arent van Curler, and the next officer in rank, 
Adriaen van der Donck. He was instructed to "have 
an eye to the rights and advantages of the patroon, 
that the common welfare may not suffer from mis- 
understanding, contention and the like." The 
Domine 's decision was to stand unquestioned until 
the patroon himself could look into the matter at issue.' 
However, there is no evidence of friction between the 
minister and the officials. In fact, Arent van Curler 

O'Callaghan's Hist, of New Netherland. i, 449; Munsell's Annals 
of Albany, i, 21, 92. 

^ Contract in O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Netherland. i. 448-9. 
He was given free passage and board on ship for himself , wife and 
four children. If he should fall into the hands of the Dunkirkers, 
the patroon promised to ransom him and during his detention to 
give forty guilders monthly for his support. A parsonage was to be 
erected in the colony and a salary of one thousand and ten 
guilders yearly, with an increase of two hundred and fifty guilders 
yearly for the three following years, was stipulated. 

2 Ibid. 449, also in Van Rensselaer-Bowier MSS. p. 606-8. 
Daites differ; here April 6, in O'Callaghan, March 6. 

3 Memorandiun from Kiliaen van Rensselaer for Johannes Mega- 
polensis. June 3, 1642. Van Rensselaer-Bowier MSS. 618. 



lit tf'C.€,€ .l?C .'%,%■« 
fC.4 'iiO^ ''f/;^ .."^f •flr,i«t, 

fC :« ..« i^. K.,J?^J'i/'yL 



rf, "'jr :«r, if^' «?;'«•; i^j. i<Ji. aig i 

-lit .««iJ 

%_ t^l ft(j 

k •«i '«! 

kU;€ 

% iti- ti»i i« 
MM »t 



H ^< K 

^j^^ 'f/ r^- 

'*!' >\i' HJ- 

IK' '^S<' 'l/ 

';# ii( itr 
■ W; \t H 

<; ^* ^( , 
\if- -^ i< 



78 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to debauch my people, exhausting them as long as they 
can find something to pay, and after that charging it to 
my account."^ He, therefore, also planned severe 
legislation to limit the importation of liquor into the col- 
ony according to the needs of each family, but to the 
exclusion of dissipation and drunkenness. Offenses 
of this kind were also to be punished by heayy fines, 
which were to be doubled, if the culprit proved to be an 
officer, "as wine and spirits are the cause of God's 
wrath, of the patroon's loss and of all evils. "^ 

On the outbreak of the Indian war, the Dutch min- 
ister at Manhattan, Everardus Bogardus, "many times 
in his sermons freely expressed himself against the hor- 
rible murders, covetousness, and other gross excesses."® 
On several occasions, the Dutch in their revolting 
cruelty even outraged the blunted moral sense of the 
Indian savage. The ravages of the war, which re- 
duced the Dutch settlers almost to the last extremity, 
made the government unpopular, and Kieft attempted 
to shift the responsibility for the war upon his advisors. 
One of these, Maryn Adriaesen, became so incensed at 
this treachery of the Director General, that he made a 
murderous but unsuccessful attack upon Kieft. 
The minister espoused the cause of the unfortunate 
man from the pulpit "in the most brutal manner." 
Later he again attacked Kieft. ^ "What are the 
great men of the country but receptacles of wrath, 

^ Kiliaen van Rensselaer to William Kieft, June 8, 1642. Van 
Rensselaer-Bowier MSS. 622. 

2 Redress of the abtises and faults in the colony of Rensselaers- 
wyck. Ibid. 

3 Broad Advice. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2d. Ser. iii, (1857), 
261-2. 

* Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv, 69-73. 



f5 # M m '.'1 .m w . » . «»# „ 



.'»( M ■'■([ .!<& .;■ 






.L t»f :# ■.*«'■ ijfi ;«! m ni m j 



79 






■ vti ?^- «^ 
•ill' >5|' HV ■ 

'»^ H M i 

'.# if( \h: 



W i«: ■;«■'• 



8o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to realize that he could not continue in this course and 
attempted to obtain a reconciliation without compro- 
mising his dignity, but the minister had been too 
deeply outraged, and he naturally allied himself to 
the party, working for the removal of the incom- 
petent governor, whom he openly attacked, outside of 
the church in the gatherings of the people on the occa- 
sion of weddings and christenings, and in the church in 
the course of his sermons. The matter came to a crisis 
in the beginning of 1646, when Kieft called upon 
Bogardus to answer for his continual opposition to the 
government. "Inasmuch as your duty and oath im- 
periously demand the maintenance of the magistracy; 
and whereas your conduct stirs the people to mutiny 
and rebellion, when they are already too much divided, 
causes schism and abuses in the church and makes us a 
scorn and a laughing stock to our neighbors, all which 
cannot be tolerated in a country where justice is main- 
tained, therefore, our sacred duty imperiously requires 
us to prosecute you in a court of justice, and we have 
accordingly ordered a copy of these our deliberations to 
be delivered to you to answer in fourteen days." 
Bogardus, who had hitherto neglected to recognize any 
letter of the Director, was constrained to answer this 
bill of indictment, but his first reply was considered fu- 
tile and absurd, and his second answer slanderous. 
After some further correspondence, the minister refused 
to enter into "a deep discussion of this affair" and chal- 
lenged the competency of the Director and his council. 
The Director refused to allow that the matter trans- 
cended his powers, but, to obviate all pretext of slander, 
he declared his willingness to submit the case to the 






' W ^:€ v*^- itt^ t«^ M H M.i» 



8i 



!; 'n.k 



■»I 



€ ;h 



«: 






^•' .'U' 









82 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

shepherd errs, the sheep go astray."^ The congrega- 
tion numbered about one hundred and seventy mem- 
bers, most of whom were "very ignorant in regard to 
the true rehgion and very much given to drink." 
John Backerus, whose services had been engaged tem- 
porarily, beUeved that "the source of much evil and 
great offense would be removed," if the seventeen tap- 
houses were closed, with the exception of three or four. 
The vice of intemperance had obtained such sway that 
the minister despaired of being able to accomplish any- 
thing with many of the older people, who were "so far 
depraved that they are now ashamed to learn anything 
good. ' '^ His hope was with the children, who might be 
influenced by the pious example of a new pastor and of 
a good schoolmaster. The abuses that had developed 
during the strife between Kieft and Bogardus had 
retarded the growth of religion and education. The 
church, although begun in 1642, still remained uncom- 
pleted, no schoolhouse had as yet been erected, and 
Kieft had been accused of misappropriating the funds 
collected for both these purposes. As the resources of 
the Directors were too limited to allow any vast expen- 
diture, Stuyvesant now endeavored to obtain assis- 
tance from the people by the formation of a representa- 
tive board of "Nine Select Men," who, as good and 
faithful representatives of the commonalty, were "to 
promote the honor of God and the welfare of our dear 
fatherland to the best advantage of the Company and 
the prosperity of our good citizens, to the preservation 

^ Directors to Stuyvesant, April 7, 1648. Col. Docs. N.Y. xiv, 

84. 

2 Backerus to Classis of Amsterdam, September 2, 1648. Eccl 
Recs. N. Y. i, 236. 



M tf 'C <€ -4. 'C J*^ . % ^1^ 



w i^ ^f^ 4 }^- A ^' 

'^f ^H'- % '^i .'^' ;^;% 

v*^: m ^^ ti^ i"^/ rt?t i' 






W] 






84 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

New Amsterdam. Although the patroons of Rensse- 
laerswyck would gladly have seen Megapolensis con- 
tinue his residence in their colony, they were not willing 
to hold him there against his will. However, they 
requested him to make some arrangements before his 
departure for the continuation "of some form of wor- 
ship, such as the reading of some chapters of God's 
Word, or some good homily."^ When Megapolensis 
arrived at New Amsterdam, on his way to the father- 
land, Backerus had already left the town for Europe. 
His departure had been hastened by the measures 
adopted by Stuyvesant to repress any protest of the 
people against his autocratic government, which he 
feared might also be made the subject of this minister's 
discourse in the pulpit. At the same time, he protested 
that he did not wish to gain control of "ecclesiastical 
affairs which are left at the full disposal of said ministers 
and consistory," wherein the Director General offered 
all the aid and assistance that could lawfully be de- 
manded from the chief magistrate of the country. In 
regard to other things, the minister was personally 
instructed by the Director General ' ' not to read himself 
or have read by any of the church officers from the pul- 
pit or elsewhere in the church at the request of any of 
the inhabitants any writing, petition or proposal having 
relation to the municipal or general government," until 
such writing had been signed by the Director himself 
or by the secretary on the order of the Director and 
Council.' 



*Acts of Deputies. Classis of Amsterdam, March 29, 1649. 
Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 249. 

'Council Minute, May 8, 1649. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 114. 



l.J^i- .."^^^J"^-.-.:'^^^^^,^:^^ 



i*fi_ ru .y^'k '■■^.i .;:'i-.ir '^Vr * 



I k ^:^ i^: ill? i«? ii"^ i'^i **t,i 



iiif 



€ '1^ 









86 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

sources at present were too limited to allow the erection 
of buildings, which were not very necessary. They 
believed that the poor could be well cared for with the 
proceeds of voluntary offerings and the fines, that were 
given to the Deaconry, as it was able to loan the com- 
pany in New Amsterdam the sum of nine hundred to a 
thousand guilders/ 

The Remonstrance finally led to the incorporation of 
the city of New Amsterdam with a municipal court of 
Burgomasters and Schepens. The minutes of this court 
open on February 6, 1653, with a prayer, in which they 
thank God for his past blessings, beseech Him for 
strength and light in the administration of justice, so 
that they might be able to exercise the power entrusted 
to them "to the general good of the community and 
to the maintenance of the churchy^ Stu37'vesant had 
attempted in vain to obtain some financial assistance 
for the maintenance of the civil, ecclesiastical and mili- 
tary servants of the company.^ Finally, in the fall of 
this year, Stuyvesant granted the Burgomasters and 
Schepens the usual excise on wine and beer con- 
sumed in the city of New Amsterdam, which they were 
to farm out to the highest bidder, if in return they paid 
subsidies for the maintenance of the works of the city, 
and the salaries of its ecclesiastical and civil servants.* 
When a semi-annual payment became due, the minis- 
ters Megapolensis and Drisius applied to Stuyvesant, 

^Representation of New Netherland (1650). Narratives of 
New Netherland, p. 327. Van Tienhoven's Answer. Ibid. p. 361-3. 

2 Recs. New Amsterdam, i, 48-9. 

8 Directors to Stuyvesant, June 26, 1653. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 
206. 

* Court minute, November 29, 1653. Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 
130. 



■J w <Wi *^i '^vL ^^i *'^JL ^'^.t-. r** ,; 



87 



i^: W iH^ i«l^ *% j«ti^ 






' ■111 ■'«] 



^4 w: >«: 

I- ^^ Jit 



I 



^ K ^ 












88 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

solely be to attend to orphans and minor children 
within the jurisdiction of the city and to administer 
their property in and out of the city and oversee such 
administration by others." The deacons retained the 
care of the poor, but such great demands were made 
upon them by the poor of other towns, that the deacons, 
on June ii, 1661, requested the Director General and 
Council to have the adjacent villages make weekly col- 
lections for their own poor.^ Such provisions were 
made by the ordinance of October. It speaks well for 
the good sense of the Dutch that goods and merchan- 
dise, belonging to the board of deacons and other chari- 
table institutions, were exempt from the fee for weigh- 
ing. The weigh-master was instructed to weigh these 
free and for God's sake.^ This was the only exemption 
allowed from such taxes. The question of exemption 
from the Burgher excise and a tax on slaughtered 
cattle in regard to the clergy was discussed in 1656 by 
the court of New Amsterdam, which finally decided that 
no person was to be exempt from such taxes, as the 
Director General himself offered to pay.^ Nevertheless, 
in 1 661 Alexander Carolus Curtius, the rector of the 
Latin school, contended that professors, preachers and 
rectors were exempt from excise taxes in Holland, but 
the court decided that the rector was to pay the excise.* 
After the departure of Megapolensis from Rensse- 

* Council minute, June ii, 1661, O'Callaghan. Cal. Hist. 
226. MSS. (Dutch) i. Ordinance, October 22, 1661. Ibid. 230. 

2 Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland, April 11, i66i. p. 

393- 

' Court minute, October 2, 1656, October 26, October 30. Recs. 
New Amsterdam, ii, 179, 204. 

* Court minute. January 25, 166 1. Recs. New Amsterdam, iii, 
253- 



vr: V 'i*i 



89 



-If 4 ^^ 

Mi/, ilt^ >f^ 






^r .^i M\ 

AM. 



f W 1^ 

' ^1j' it '^*^ 



90 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

as the second minister at New Amsterdam.^ Stuyve- 
sant had recommended the case of this minister to the 
Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber, but the Synod of 
North Holland had first to approve the reconciliation of 
Grasmeer/ which was done only in August, 1652, after 
a repentant acknowledgment of his sins.^ 

Meanwhile, the services of two ministers had been 
obtained for the colonial church, which apparently pre- 
cluded the return of William Grasmeer to the colony. 
Stuyvesant had urged the appointment of a min- 
ister with some ability to preach to the English, who 
had settled in New Amsterdam, and were members of 
the Reformed Church. At this time, disturbances in 
England led the Reverend Samuel Drisius to retreat to 
Holland, where he declared his willingness to the Clas- 
sis of Amsterdam to be employed in the ministry of 
New Netherland. Immediately the deputies of the 
Classis recommended his appointment as assistant to 
Domine Megapolensis in the church of New Amsterdam, 
as he was able to preach in both languages, English and 
Dutch, and if necessary even in French, and thus would 
prove "a great instrument for the propagation of God's 
Holy Word and glory."* The Directors readily con- 
ceded the request of the Classis. A few months later 
Gideon Schaats, schoolmaster at Beets, received a call to 
the church of Rensselaerswyck, for which he was or- 

^ Acts of Classis of Amsterdam, February 12, 1652. Eccl. Recs. 
N.Y.i. 301. 

2 Directors to Stuyvesant, April 4, 1652. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 
174. 

^ Synod of North Holland, August 12, et seq., 1652. Eccl. Recs. 
N. Y. i. 312-13. 

^Directors to Stuyvesant, April 4, 1652. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 
173. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 303-6. 



'a # .ff >'^l ''i "L »»i ■«■ '■*» » 

M tf ic c ^i ■^c k « m 

.>^ «/ *'^-^-.'^^^- ^.r^r^^r ■*>:..«- *-itv *■ 



91 



'KM' 
.** «?■ ■■' 

!?f !* >^ 

■>i irfi i'i. 

■ '^m I 

MM. 






. :.k; '^f it 
'! fir JH 7^1 

if i^ t 



92 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

in bets a ton of beer at twenty-three or twenty-four 
guilders, or some other liquor." The better class were 
too few to be able to make up any deficiency of his sal- 
ary. There was not even a house for the new minister, 
as the house that had been occupied by the former 
preacher was allotted to the new schout-fiscal/ and the 
congregation refused to build a new parsonage. The 
patroon of the colony only allowed the minister two hun- 
dred guilders for rent, while the rent of a decent domi- 
cile cost at least four hundred guilders. This forced 
the Rev. Gideon Schaats to come to some arrange- 
ment with the deaons of the church, from whom he 
obtained the use of the poor-house for his dwelling 
place, as there were then very few poor people in the 
colony. Meanwhile, a small new church had been 
erected in the heart of Beverwyck, which was then a 
village of about one hundred and twenty houses. 
Most of the inhabitants were in the employ of the West 
India Company, and when the second contract with 
patroon of the colony expired in 1657, van Rensselaer 
refused to pay any longer for services, which were 
mainly to the advantage of the servants of the com- 
pany.^ He was then reappointed "at the request of 
the inhabitants of Fort Orange and Beverwyck," by 
Stuyvesant at a salary of one hundred florins a month, 
which the company expected to be raised for the greater 
part by the congregation.' The labors of Gideon 

^ Commission of Gerrit Swart. O'Callaghan, Hist, of New 
Netherland, ii. 564. 

2 Schaats to Domine Laurentius, Jiuie 27, 1657. Eccl. Recs. N. 
Y. i 385-6. 

^Directors to Stuyvesant, May 20, 1658. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. , 
419- 



m € >C <€ -^4 '4 ^% ^ ^ ^^^- 



• y. ^i-'. Ji -.-.^ •'■■..' >.■.'. •".■'■. ...^5tC laff 'rft.. 



a^ 



y!'"ttr\l'>T 



«r-%] 



93 



f 



i \ y. ^v 






M € K. 






* /«f ,4, 

n^:: M J^. 

'■■^■- ii? M 

' -ij- it "Vl 



94 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to become a parsonage and bam, as soon as the inhabi- 
tants collected more funds and the material necessary 
for a church. The erection of this edifice was confided 
to a commission, composed of the Reverend Megapolen- 
sis, Jan Snediger and Jan Strycker. On the erection of 
a parsonage and the grant of a parcel of land, Midwout 
felt too poor to bear further expenses alone^ and per- 
mission was granted to call upon the inhabitants of 
Breukelen and Amersfoort to cut and hew timber to be 
used in the construction of a building for the exercise of 
Divine Service.^ Poverty also made the support of the 
minister impossible for one single town, and Stuyvesant, 
on the petition of the magistrates, directed a collection 
to be taken up in the villages of Breukelen, Midwout 
and Amersfoort for the support of the minister, but 
Breukelen and the adjacent places agreed to contribute 
according to their means, only on the condition that 
Domine Polhemus would officiate alternately at 
Midwout and Breukelen, which the Director General 
and Council readily allowed.^ This arrangement met 
with serious objections from the people of Gravesend 
and Amersfoort, who were thus compelled every 
other Sunday to travel four hours each way, "all for 
one single sermon, which would be to some very 
troublesome and to others utterly impossible," while 
Midwout was only two hours walk from each town. A 
compromise was now effected according to which the 
Sunday sermon was to be delivered in the morning at 
Midwout, which was nearly equally distant from the 

^ Council minute, June 15, 1655. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 337. 

2 Council minute, February 9,1655. Ibid.311-12. 

3 Letter to Director General and Cotmcil, February 25, 1656. 
Ibid. 338. 



m ^% . 'n :fiL .-m jjti ^'^t-.-j'^^j 



tS^mm 



^HMI 






96 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Amersfoort and Breukelen, of which the first town 
was to be assessed four hundred florins and the 
other two three hundred respectively. In the begin- 
ning of 1657, the court of Midwout, with the consent of 
Stuyvesant, levied a tax of ten florins upon each lot or 
parcel of land, of which there were about forty in the 
town.^ The same plan was also pursued in Amersfoort, 
which, with the voluntary contributions promised by 
Gravesend, thus hoped to realize the three hundred 
guilders, for which it was assessed for the support of the 
minister.^ Breukelen alone was not content. This 
community was too small and too impoverished to be 
able to satisfy the demands made upon its resources for 
a ministry, which had not been engaged by the town, 
but had intruded itself against the wishes of the inhabi- 
tants. Besides the service of Domine Polhemus had 
proved unsatisfactory, inasmuch as the minister gave 
them only ' ' a prayer instead of a sermon, that was fin- 
ished before they could collect their thoughts, so that he 
gives small edification to the congregation." The mag- 
istrates thought that it might be more profitable to the 
people, if one of their own number were appointed "to 
read a sermon from a book of homilies every Sunday." 
They did not dispute the good will of Polhemus, but 
they believed that his faculties had been weakened by 
old age. Nevertheless, if he should persist to minister 
as before to them, they would give some voluntary con- 
tribution, but the congregation refused to be bound to 
any fixed sum in spite of the former promise of the 



* Council minute, March 28, 1656. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 345. 
2 Council minute, .January 15, 1657. Ibid. 378-9. 



fi,^,m. '''■' 



>^L r»l .^'^i J 

4 4 'M! M. 



ii rp- %'^ m: ^if- ^i^^ ^^^ 'i# ■% 

•^?f ^:g v*^: -i^ 4 t€}*^-M-i* 

^ ^ : ■■■' vlf ^€ '«tf 



97 



■;•"«.. ^f"^^ 






1^: K'M 



^*(- 7lf ,i^ 



IT .r- 



98 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

good, until the tithes became due, when further orders 
would be given. ^ Thus the company was almost 
entirely relieved of the support of religion in Midwout 
with the exception of occasional subsidies.^ 

The inhabitants of Breukelen were never quite recon- 
ciled to this arrangement of divine service on Long Island 
and in 1659, "on account of the fatigue of the journey 
from Breukelen to Midwout and the great age of Rev- 
erend J. Polhemus, to whom it proves burdensome," 
they requested a preacher for themselves for the promo- 
tion of religion and their own edification.' Accordingly 
the Classis of Amsterdam, on the recommendation of the 
West India Company, called the Reverend Henricus 
Selyns to the ministry of the Church of Breukelen, 
where upon his ordination he was commissioned "to 
preach the entire and saving Word of God ; to adminis- 
ter the Sacraments according to the institution of 
Christ ; to lead in public prayers of the congregation ; 
and in union with the officers of the church, to preserve 
discipline and order ; all in conformity with the Confes- 
sion of Faith of the Netherland Church and the Heidel- 
berg Catechism."* On the arrival of the Reverend 
Selyns, the peace negotiations with the Esopus Indians 
so preoccupied the Provincial government, that his in- 
stallation at Breukelen was delayed several months, 
during which the Company gave him an allowance for 
his support. Meanwhile, the magistrates of Breukelen 

^ Council minute, January 29, 1658. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 410. 

2 Four hundred fls. advanced by Company, Sept. 30, 1660. 
Council minute, Ibid 482-3. Acknowledgment of subsidy of 
four hundred, fifteen and ten fls. Council minute March 29, 
1661. Ibid. 499. 

^ Council minute, Sept. 3, r66o. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 479-80. 

* Call, February 16, 1660. Ibid. 466. 



^tL.iM.. m. :-'t .M.j^'k^^--J^'^.£ 



-m %m ^m "^'Jl /,'i ■; ^ .^--^ --r '*- ,>• 



■;-?(: ':« 'i**.' •*«?• ■ i«i- f' 



■ttt lit! ' 









'id id ul 



;>.; •< .n? 

.^' /4 ;" 

^r ^ % 

' ^1j' (1^ >^ 

■'hi '^U' ''itC 



lOO RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

dam.^ A year after the organization of a separate 
church in Breukelen, a schoolmaster, who was also sex- 
ton, chorister and precentor, was hired in the person of 
Carel De Beauvois.^ On the departure of Domine 
Selyns after the expiration of his time of service in the 
summer of 1664, the schoolmaster was commissioned to 
read prayers and a sermon from an approved author 
every Sunday in the church for the improvement of 
the congregation, until another minister could be 
found.' Selyns reported that during his ministry the 
church membership with God's help and grace had 
increased fourfold.* 

There was also another minister, who had come to 
the Province of New Netherland at the same time as 
Domine Selyns, but had been ordained to minister to 
the inhabitants of Esopus. This was the Reverend 
Hermanus Blom, who had before been in the country 
while yet a proponent, and at the invitation of Stuyve- 
santhad preached in several villages, to the great satis- 
faction of his hearers. After an opportunity was given 
by the Director General to the inhabitants of Esopus to 
hear Blom,^ they petitioned the provincial authorities 
to give him to them as their minister, and resolved to 
prepare a good Bouwery for his support, to which later 
settlers would also have to contribute proportionately 
to the obligations assumed by the present petition- 

^ Letter to Classis of Amsterdam, October 4, 1660. Eccl. Recs. 
N.Y. i. 488. 

2 Contract, July 6, 1661. Stiles, Hist, of Brooklyn, i. 429. 

'Stiles, Ibid. 145. 

* Letter, June 9, 1664. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 548. 

^Stuyvesant to Lourissen at Esopus, August 11, 1659. Col. Docs; 
N. Y. xiii' 102. 



''■L ''I. » 



^:;*&j»t 



I' 



^■f- w .?f 

' ^ir ^1^: '^y^ 



I02 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ise and swear in the presence of the Almighty and 
Everpresent God that they would "maintain and exer- 
cise the Reformed Church service and no other." The 
judges were, therefore, to be "professors of the Re- 
formed Religion, as now preached in the United 
Netherland Churches in conformity with the Word of 
God and the order of the Synod of Dortdrecht." 
Even the court-clerk had to promise "to promote and 
help, as far as his position is concerned, the glory of God 
and the pure service of His Word."^ 

The church suffered a severe blow in 1663 from the 
hostilities of the Indians, who slew twenty-four persons, 
and carried off forty-five prisoners. The dead left 
behind them many intestate estates, which became 
the occasion of serious differences between the magis- 
trates and the minister with his consistory, between 
whom relations had already become somewhat strain- 
ed. The magistrates were accused of arrogating to 
themselves the disposition of what was collected 
in the community either for the church or for the 
poor, while Domine Blom and his consistory were 
accused of opposing the magistrates in the appoint- 
ment of administrators and in the inventory of estates 
left without any heirs or testamentary disposition. 
The minister claimed that he had only opposed the 
payment of the surplus of such estates in a particular 
case after the settlement of all liabilities to the magis- 
trates, until it had been ascertained whether the over- 
seers of the poor had any claim to the money, as the 
church had the care of the poor, who were then a 

* Council minute, Col. Docs. N. Y. xiii. 196, 398; Laws of 
New Netherland, 396. 



f^ M i^q ^^<L ^'nk. .^^t v'^f--:"^ „>^ - 



.• * /■ *r. 



^^ 









t€ m M 

fii' H? ^i 

^ \( '<n. 



}>.: /^f M 

n^^ M ji 

w i^. ^^ 
: -ir, .r ^ 



I04 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

only to preach but even to keep school." This soon led 
to his departure for Virginia,^ and the church of Haarlem 
was not supplied with a new minister in spite of Stuy- 
vesant's petition. The people of Bergen^' declared 
their willingness to raise a goodly sum for the support 
of a minister in their village, but as in the case of other 
villages of New Netherland this petition was also in 
vain. There were no ministers in Holland with suffi- 
cient zeal to prompt them to abandon their native 
country to labor in the struggling colonies of New 
Netherland, and the Company felt its resources too 
limited after its bankruptcy to assume additional bur- 
dens for the rich endowment of colonial churches, that 
would attract to them the young ministers or candi- 
dates to the ministry, at the beginning of their career.' 
The only minister, who was ordained and sent to New 
Netherland on the eve of the English conquest, at the 
instance of the West India Company, was Samuel Mega- 
polensis, the son of the old minister, who had recom- 
mended* him to the Classis of Amsterdam for this min- 
istry, as he was qualified through several years' attend- 
ance at the Academy of Cambridge in New England to 
preach to the English, who were in great want of 
preachers, and consequently open to the inroads of 
schism and heresy.^ In fact, Stuyvesant had asked the 
Directors to locate two English preachers in the English 
towns as early as 1659, but the Directors felt that it 

1 Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, August 5, 1664. Eccl. Recs. 
N.Y. i. 555. 

2 Petition, November 1662. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiii 232-3. 

3 Cf . Classis of Amsterdam to Backerus, April 26, 1549. Eccl. 
Recs. N.Y. i, 250. 

* Letter, September 25, 1658. Ibid. 436. 

5 Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, September 
24, 1658. Ibid. 432-3- 









■ •tie 'i«; 






1 4*^^ ; 



•V J, 5«- J- "- 

^i€ m Hi 



■?j^ ^W ;^ 

^^ 'M y- 

-. %w ■ 

; ^ij" >t '^^ 



CHAPTER IV 

Religion in New Sweden before and after 
THE Dutch Conquest 

The Swedish immigration to territory claimed by the 
Dutch became an important factor in the development 
of the religious history of the Province of New Nether- 
land. The attention of the Crown of Sweden had been 
directed to American colonial enterprise by the original 
projector of the Dutch West India Company, the exiled 
Antwerp merchant, William Usselinx. After his de- 
parture from the Netherlands, he had been engaged by 
Gustavus Adolphus to assist in the establishment of a 
Swedish trading company to do business in Asia, Africa, 
America and Magellica, for which he received a commis- 
sion from the King, December 21, 1624/ Although 
Usselinx had been a champion of orthodox Calvinism, 
who could not even regard the Remonstrants but as 
free-thinkers, heretics, apostates from the Reformed 
Religion, and enemies of the State, he did not appar- 
ently scruple to work for the extension of the Swedish 
power and consequently of the Lutheran faith, whose 
bishops and ministers he endeavored especially to inter- 
est in the project, "the good means, which God has 

1 Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 1-2. 

(106) 



'ff #/€M 






107 



ink. 



I08 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Usselinx traveled extensively in the interests of the 
South Company of Sweden, little was accomplished to 
advance the realization of the colonial enterprise 
which was still more impeded in 1629 by the demand 
made by the King upon the vessels of the Ship and 
the South Companies, then united into one.^ Gustavus 
Adolphus had entered on his great war in Germany, 
that three years later led to his death on the field of 
battle. 

Meanwhile, Usselinx had proposed an enlargement 
of the company, which was to become a great inter- 
national Protestant association, but the amendment to 
the charter, drawn up to that effect on October 16, 1632, 
does not bear the signature of Gustavus Adolphus, 
whose death occurred three weeks later. The Mercu- 
rius Germaniae of William Usselinx was intended to set 
forth the advantages of this commercial project to the 
Germans, whose religious zeal he attempted to en- 
kindle by citing the example of the bishops and pastors 
in Sweden, where "a special prayer has been composed 
for this, and is read at public worship and hours of 
prayer."^ In the beginning of 1634, a charter was 
sanctioned, which in its amplified form also extended 
its privileges to the German Evangelical Nation. 
Usselinx now compiled the Argonautica Gustaviana to 
advocate this project, but the whole scheme collapsed, 
as far as Germany was concerned, with the defeat of 
Nordlingen. He now went to France, but failed in 
his endeavor to obtain the support of Louis XIII, to 
whom he represented the South Company as a great 

^Jameson. Am. Hist. Papers ii. 165. 
2 Ibid. 



<?r^ ■ ^ WM W v 



'>«^ 'tit, ji^ 
;^i .'€ »«<i 






W: itt H 

'f 'it W^ 
M- M /^ 






no RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

tion of a Swedish and Dutch combination, which, 
however, had at its disposal very limited resources. 
The whole capital invested did not exceed 24,000 
florins,^ of which one-half was subscribed in Holland by 
Blommaert and Peter Minuit, and the other half in 
Sweden by the three Oxenstiemas-Axel, the Chancel- 
or, his brother Gabriel Gustafsen and the treasurer, 
Gabriel Bengtson — the Admiral Clas Fleming and Spir- 
ing. This company had not been formed to realize the 
projected expedition to Guinea, as this was considered 
too expensive for its limited resources; it was now 
resolved to trade and colonize on a part of the North 
American coast, which had not yet been occupied by 
either English or Dutch. Usselinx looked with an 
unfavorable eye on this small enterprise, which realized 
so little the gigantic schemes, that he had planned and 
still advocated. He wrote to Beyer, the Queen's se- 
cretary: "There is in my opinion little to be obtained 
thence but furs, skins and tobacco, which gave good 
profit when it was worth as many gulden as it is now of 
Lubeck shillings, besides the filthiness of it is to honor- 
able people a great drawback, seeing how injurious it is 
to the health. "2 

Two small vessels of the United South and Ship 
Company, the Kalmar Nyckel and Gripen, were char- 
tered and the whole expedition placed under the 
charge of Peter Minuit, while Samuel Blommaert was 
to remain in Holland as the commissary of the Dutch 

1 It finally took thirty-six thousand florins to fit out the expedi- 
tion. Cf . Blommaert's letter to Axel Oxenstierna, January 6 1838, 
G. W. Kemkamp in Bijdragen en Medeelingen van Het Historisch 
Genootschap. Te Utrecht, 29 Deel, 1908, p. 146. 

^Usselin to John Beyer, March 16, 1639. Ibid p. 147, note i. 



i. . :!^- Ji^ .;'^^k.-^^ ^"^S>r *^^£ 



%<"' Hi 1a 



j:r- i^^ .J^ 

^r rv( ;^ 

=tvf ti^: ^^^ 



112 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

tile demonstration against Spain, whose adherents were 
to be "boldly attacked" wherever found, whereas the 
Dutch and English residing in New Sweden were to be 
treated as friends. The enmity towards Spain is still 
more patent in certain instructions, that amount practi- 
cally to organized piracy against Spanish vessels in the 
waters of the West Indies.^ 

Minuit sailed from Gottenburg late in the fall. 
After stopping in the Dutch port of Medemblik, he 
directed his course to the South River, where he 
arrived early in 1638. The Director of New Sweden 
immediately purchased from the Indians a small piece 
of land at Paghahacking, upon which he later built a 
fort named Christina in honor of the young Queen of 
Sweden.^ Although the Dutch at Fort Nassau further 
up the river and the provincial authorities protested 
against the advent of these colonists as an intrusion 
into territory within the Province of New Netherland, 
the Swedes, according to the orders of the Directors in 
Holland, were to be permitted on the conquest of New 
Sweden to hold the land upon which Fort Christina 
stood, with a certain amount of garden land for the cul- 
tivation of tobacco, "as they seem to have bought it 
with the knowledge and consent of the Company. ' '^ 
Yet the Chamber of the West India Company at Enck- 

l ^ Sprinchorn. The Hist, of the Colony of New Sweden. Penna. 
Mag. of Hist, and Biogr. viii. 254, note i. Blommaert frequently 
included the capture of good Spanish prizes in West India waters 
in his projected instructions for Minuit and in his communications 
to the Swedish Chancellor. Cf. letters, ed. by Kemkamp in Bijdra- 
gen, etc. 29 Deel. pp. 122, 128-9, ^33' ^39- 

2 Details in Blommaert's letters: September 4, 1638, Ibid, 
pp. 157-8, November 13, 1638. Ibid. 161-167, January 28, 1640. 
Ibid. 170-189. 

^Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 90. 



■^^' iftf m M I'^f •iti;*fci 



;. .^- lit ^A 






•4 .i"ij 
"It- m 

I '-C -C J^ 



.«ti' ;^»; ■■^: 
')€ '\^i hC 

f£l' H?' ^f. 

;{•■ 7ir if. i 

^r Vi/ H; 



114 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

first colonization under Minuit was almost entirely- 
Dutch. Lieutenant Mans Kling, who was left in com- 
mand of the twenty- three men in Fort Christina, when 
Minuit^ sailed in the fall to the West Indies, is the only 
Swede expressly mentioned amongst the first colonists. 
This is probably the reason why no Swedish clergyman 
of the Lutheran faith accompanied the first expedition. 
The exclusive occupation of the colonists in the fur 
trade, which caused "about thirty thousand florins 
injury" to the Dutch West India Company in the first 
year, nearly proved the ruin of the colony. In the sec- 
ond spring, they found themselves under the necessity of 
choosing either to remain and perish, or to abandon 
New Sweden and seek relief with the Dutch. The 
authorities at Manhattan assured them a cordial 
welcome. 

This happy solution of the Swedish question for New 
Netherland was prevented by the timely arrival of a 
new Director in the person of Peter Hollander with a 
goodly number of colonists and fresh provisions. 
The new members of the colony were mainly Swedes, in 
consequence of the action of the Swedish government, 
which had ordered the deportation of Swedish married 
soldiers with their families, who had evaded service or 
were guilty of some offense, under promise to permit 
them to return in two years. The spiritual wants of 
the Swedish population found their provision in the 
ministration of the Lutheran clergyman, Reorus Torkil- 

^ Minuit perished in a hurricane while visiting a Dutch captain 
in his ship Het Vliegende Hert. According to instructions, he was 
cruising for a rich Spanish prize. Blommaert to Oxenstiema 
November 13, 1638 and January 28, 1640, Bijdragen, pp. 161; 
177-8. 






ta M !:f .« .4 "^c m i«i J** 



115 



Vi^- >*«. 



iif li 



M- K ;^ 

■>i^ ^^- %. 

^tj' !l^- 'i^ 

;. M "^^ i 
hi '-U" 'It: 



Il6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

arrival of Mans Kling, further purchases were made, so 
that the Province extended "from the borders of the 
Sea to Cape Henlopen in returning southwest towards 
Godyn's Bay; thence towards the great South River, as 
far as the Minquaaskil, where Fort Christina is con- 
structed; and thence again towards South River, and 
the whole to a place which the savages call Sankikah," 
now Trenton Falls/ 

By this time the Dutch Swedish Combination, that 
had been organized for the purpose of trade and coloniza- 
tion on the American coast, not yet occupied by 
either the Dutch or the English, was transformed into a 
national trading company of Sweden. The first step 
towards the complete nationalization of the company 
was the permission granted to the old Ship and South 
Company of Sweden to embark its capital in this 
association in return for a monopoly of the tobacco 
trade in Sweden, Finland or Ingermanland.^ When 
the Dutch partners showed some opposition to the 
plans of trade and colonization, pursued by the Swedes, 
the government resolved to buy out the Holland part- 
ners, "since they are a hindrance." The Swedish resi- 
dent at The Hague was instructed to pay 18,000 guldens 
of the subsidies obtained from the States General to the 
Dutch associates, on the condition that they abandon 
all further claims.^ This marks the second period of 
the history of New Sweden. 

A new company was now formed under the name of 

1 Col. Docs. N.Y. xii. 28 note. 

2 January 12, 1641. Ibid. 21-22. 

3 February 20, 1641. Kammararkivet. Odhner, o. c. Penna. 
Mag. History and Biography iii, 400. j 



>n[ ''li 'n *"a. ^'i^ ^"•t,'* ^c. ,r^*.. -if-. J 



'if-, lit 1^ 









'C t«^ i*€ 

: M MJ 



4 it M 

y If n 



Re- 



^ ' . ii.jk * J 



fit H M 

^^ 1i'.' U 
^5f "y '<«■ 

^■- ;M' ;^' 

:■: %'^- , 
^:^^^■ HI'. \; 



Il8 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

hold upon the South River by the erection of a strong 
fort of heavy hemlock logs, called New Gottenburg , on 
the Island Tinicum, about twelve miles below Philadel- 
phia, and later of another fort on the east shore of 
the bay near Salem Creek, sickness was weaken- 
ing the population. During the summer, seventeen of 
the male emigrants died, amongst whom was the first 
pastor of the colony, the Reverend Reorus Torkillus.* 
Thus the colonial ministry was again reduced to one 
Swedish minister. About this time, the chancellor 
Brahe wrote to Printz, hoping that he would " gain firm 
foothold there and be able to lay so good a foundation 
in tarn vasta terra septentrionali, that with God's 
gracious favor the whole North American Continent 
may in time be brought to the knowledge of His Son 
and become subject to the crown of Sweden." The 
Chancellor further gives expression to his fear that the 
Swedish colonists might be contaminated by the relig- 
ious ideas and practices of the English and Dutch. 
Therefore, says he, "adorn your little church and priest 
after the Swedish fashion, with the usual habiliments 
of the altar, in distinction from the Hollanders and 
English, shunning all leaven of Calvinism," as "the out- 
ward ceremonial will not the less move them than others 
to sentiments of piety and devotion. "^ The reply of the 
Governor to this letter reveals the measures adopted by 
the authorities for the public worship of God in the col- 
ony. "Divine service is performed here in the good old 
Swedish tongue, our priest clothed in the vestments of the 
Mass on high festivals, solemn prayer-days, Sundays, and 

^Keen, 458. Narrative and Critical History of America. 12 
^Keen, Ibid. 459. 



t>t ':« \^ ins i«i fill 'i^ij^tn 



119 



■ 


1 / 






1 








■ 





■f ilfi '^. 



4^ ^*1 ' 






f^' m: '4 
# "^# 4 
H V '^«' 

■?;^ ^'i*! ''^ 

lil-^ "M^ '^^' 
■ W if!' '^ 

^€ ^^: >- 

■'If "^u" --tr^ 
If Hr.. % 



120 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

der, the son of Printz's sister, in the fall of the next year 
made it possible for the old minister to leave for the 
fatherland in the spring of 1648.^ Israel Fluviander 
(Holgh?) either died or left New Sweden early in the 
year, as Lock was then the only clergyman residing in 
the Province.^ 

Printz himself was anxious to be relieved from the 
burden of his office. He wrote to this effect to Peter 
Brahe in 1650, promising his successor as good a posi- 
tion in the colony as he could find in Sweden. ' ' I have 
taken possession of the best places, and still hold them. 
Notwithstanding repeated acts and protests of the 
Dutch, nothing whatever has been accomplished by 
them ; and where on several occasions, they attempted 
to build within our boundaries, I at once threw down 
their work ; so that, if the new governor brings enough 
people with him, they will very soon grow wear^^ and 
disgusted, like the Puritans, who were most violent at 
first, but now leave us entirely in peace. "^ The neces- 
sity of strengthening the authority of Sweden on the 
South River by new settlements of Swedes, who were 
still few in number, became most patent in the following 
year, when Stuyvesant, instructed to maintain ' ' the 
rights of the company," which was then contemplating 
a settlement of the boundary question between the two 
jurisdictions, invaded New Sweden with a force of one 
hundred and twenty men, who were joined at Fort 
Nassau by eleven sail. This post was dismantled and a 
new fort was erected on the west bank of the river, 

^Sprinchorn, History of Colony of New Sweden, Penn. Mag. 
of History and Biography, viii. 22. 

2 Ibid. p. 245. 

3 Keen, Narrative and Critical History of America, iv. 466. 









wi 



■?iC ''^^ '«( 

U -^f .tU 

1^' JH 74 

Hr ^)^ "^' 

^- it ;i^ 

hi ^":^: 

Ul'- H(. ^If 



122 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

had come "for action which it were culpable to neglect." 
The Dutch submitted without any show of resistance. 
The post was named anew Fort Trinity in honor of the 
feastday on which it was captured.^ The whole South 
River was now in the power of the Swedes. When the 
Directors of the Dutch West India Company in Amster- 
dam heard of the capitulation of Fort Casimir, they 
ordered Stuyvesant to invade New Sweden as soon as 
the ship De Waag, carrying thirty-six guns and two 
hundred men, arrived at New Amsterdam.' Upon its 
arrival, Stuyvesant had completed his preparations and 
on August 26, 1655, he sailed with a force of three hun- 
dred and seventeen soldiers^ for the South River, where 
the Swedes, barely numbering five hundred souls, after 
some resistance submitted to the Dutch.* 

The condition of the Reformed Church on the South 
River had never been satisfactory to the Dutch. The 
religious issue, presenting itself on the conquest of New 
Sweden, probably accounts for the presence of the 
Dutch minister Megapolensis in the expedition, which, 
according to Stuyvesant 's proclamation,^ was not only 
to promote the welfare of the Province of New Nether- 
land, and its good inhabitants, but also the Honor of 
God's Holy Name and the propagation of His Holy 

^Keen, Narrative and Critical History of America, iv 472-3. 

2 Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 88-89. 

3 Cf . catalogue of Frederick Muller & Cie. Geographic- Voya- 
ages, 1910. Deux lettres originales concernant la prise de forte- 
resse Casimir au Zuydt Rivier (Deleware) par les Hollandais sur 
les Su^dois, en 1655, "Johannes Bogaert schrijver" d, Bontemantel, 
"den 28 augustij 1655 op de reede van de Menades" et "Int schip 
de Waegh den 31 October, 1655, "4 pp. in fol. O'Callaghan gives the 
number of soldiers at 600 to 700. 

^Col. Docs. N.Y. xii. 98-106. 
*Ibid. 92. 









nr '^^ '<>y 
■?4 >*^ '^^ 

W ft "^^f 

1/ V -if 

•^/^ Hn Hr 



124 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

sometimes appears at the most awkward moment."^ 
However, the interests of the Reformed Church were 
also safeguarded by the oath, which the Director Gen- 
eral imposed upon his vice-director on the South River, 
Jean Paul Jacquet. He had to promise and swear to 
maintain and advance as much as possible "the Re- 
formed Religion, as the same is preached here and in the 
Fatherland conformably to God's word and the Synod 
of Dort."^ The two ministers, Peter Hjort and Mat- 
thias Nertunius, who had been stationed at Fort Casi- 
mir and Fort Christina, were sent to New Amsterdam, 
and finally transported, with Governor Rising and 
others who refused to submit to Dutch authority, to 
Europe. Thus the Reverend Lars Carlson Lock was 
the only Lutheran clergyman, who remained to minister 
to the Swedes and Finns, of whom at least two hundred 
lived on the river above Fort Christina. The Dutch 
ministers of New Amsterdam do not give a very flatter- 
ing report of this man. "This Lutheran Preacher is a 
man of impious and scandalous habits, a wild, drunken, 
unmannerly clown, more inclined to look into the wine 
can than into the Bible. He would prefer drinking 
brandy two hours to preaching one . . . Last spring 
this preacher was tippling with a smith and while yet 
over their brandy, they came to fisticuffs and beat each 
others heads black and blue; yea, the smith tore all 



^Col. Docs. N. Y.xii. 119." 

2 Ibid. 117. This same oath'' (accidental changes of a word 
here and there) was taken by WilHam Beeckman, appointed Com- 
missary of the West India Company on the South River, July 30, 
1658, by the Director General and Council. 



■^iV ^i# \.ii i«}i /J 8' ft^- 'Mr '' 






t £ "V J. ^' 












^' . W ^■^' 

>il' HV ^c 
H<: -i/' i^: 

X M M 



V '^i^ '^^ 
=\^' ri^. ^ 

W ^yf' /i^^ 



126 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the belongings left by Jacob Jongh, who was indebted 
to the company to the extent of two hundred and forty 
guilders/ but Lock appealed to Stuyvesant for pardon 
and a remission of the fine, as his offense was due to 
ignorance. His self -marriage had been performed with 
out any bad intention and he would have willingly sub- 
mitted to the usages of the Reformed Church, if they 
had been known to him.^ Acrelius states that Lock, 
who had been suspended from the exercise of his minis- 
try some time, finally obtained a confirmation of his di - 
vorce from Stuyvesant, who also approved his second 
marriage. He was then again permitted to exercise 
his ministerial office among the Swedes.' 

Another Lutheran minister came to the colony, a 
3^ear after the conquest of the Province, in the ship 
Mercurius, which had sailed with eighty-eight emigrants 
from Gottenburg before the cessation of the Swedish 
rule.* Although Stuyvesant was unable to prevent 
the emigrants from disembarking, he had Herr Matthias 
returned to Sweden in the same ship.^ The vice-direc- 
tor did not allow his two sons, bom during his admin- 
istration on the South River, to be baptized by the 
Lutheran minister,' but he continually urged the 
appointment of a Dutch Reformed minister in that 
region as a means of promoting immigration thither. 

1 Minutes of Court at Altona, April 14, 1662. Col. Decs N. Y. 
xii. 366. 

2 Lock's petition to Stuyvesant, April 30, 1662. Ibed 367. 

3 Acrelius, History of New Sweden. Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania. Memoirs, xi. loo-ioi. 

* Sprinchom, History of the Colony of New Sweden, Pa. Mag. 
of History and Biography, viii. p. 145. 

^ Acrelius, History of New Sweden. Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania. Memoirs xi. p. 92. 

* Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 410. Beeckman to Stuyvesant. 



*^tl '-J^Ji .l'''^i ):^t .r'-L / 



?f ■€ s^ m iH til t^rM.i^»l^ 

^,- *:•>'' ^i,/r fit 






;€ m H 1 






^ >^' HV ^€ 

^: M ,4 :^ 
nf ^1/ ;«!■ 

''%r ''5^ '^<' 
V '^u; :if; 



128 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

debt to the City of Amsterdam. To liquidate this debt 
and at the same time to strengthen the southern boun- 
dary of the Province, the Directors of the Amsterdam 
Chamber and the Burgomasters of the City carried on 
negotiations, which finally resulted in the cession of 
Fort Casimir and the territory on the west side of the 
river , from Christina Kill to the mouth of Delaware Bay, 
to the City of Amsterdam. The Burgomasters, in their 
draft of the conditions for the settlement, did not 
neglect to provide for religion. They proposed to erect, 
in the market-place or some other convenient spot of the 
colony ; a public building suitable for divine service, a 
house for the minister, and also a school, which might 
serve at the same time as the residence of the school- 
master, whose office included the duties of sexton and 
psalmsetter. The salaries of both were to be paid pro- 
visionally by the City, unless the Company decided 
otherwise.^ In a later draft, the City of Amsterdam 
only offered to send there a schoolmaster, who was also 
to read the Holy Scriptures and set the Psalms,^ but the 
States General, in its ratification of the report of its com- 
mittee on the conditions for this settlement, insisted on 
the installation of a preacher and consistory as soon as 
the colony should number about two hundred families.' 
By the spring of 1657, from one hundred and 
twenty-five to one hundred and eighty immigrants had 
settled at Fort Casimir, which now received the name 
of New Amstel . Here the vice-director of the City of 
Amsterdam Jacob Alrichs, took up his residence. 

iCol. Docs. N.Y.i. 620. 

2 Ibid. 631. 

3 Ibid. 637. 









<5^i it- m 



f 17^ 



?^ .^-^t^' 












* ;^ l^. '^ 

m m ^t 
. Hf ^^ j«! 

■?4 ^iC >^^ 

Hr '^^ '^ 
,\^ it ;^ 

u/' uf. ^f 



130 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

become backsliders, and those, who are still weak in the 
faith, may be further strengthened."^ Before this let- 
ter reached Holland, the Classis of Amsterdam had 
already called and ordained the Reverend Everardus 
Welius for this post.* On the arrival of the new 
clergyman at the South River, a church was organized 
with Alrichs and Jan Williams as elders and with two 
deacons, one of whom, Pietersen, also performed the 
duties of a precentor and Comforter of the Sick. Everar- 
dus Welius, to the sorrow and grief of the colony, only 
officiated a short period, as he died on December 9, 1659. 
During his ministration, the church, which formerly 
counted only nineteen members, had increased to the 
number of sixty. ^ A few months before this, the Com- 
missioners of the colony at Amsterdam had an oppor- 
tunity to make good their promise to repress dissenting 
worship in New Amstel. The Swedish parson had 
dared to preach there without permission. On August 
22, 1659, they wrote to their vice-director, Alrichs, that 
he "must by proper means, put an end to or prevent 
such presumption on the part of other sectaries," "as 
yet no other religion but the Reformed can or may be 
tolerated there."* 

The official orthodoxy of the colony began to give 
way in 1662 to the urgent necessity of obtaining colon- 
ists to repel English encroachments from Maryland. A 
company of Mennonites projected a settlement within 
the jurisdiction of the City's colony at the Whorekillon 

^Alrichs to Commissioners, April 13, 1657. Col. Docs. N. Y 
ii. 7. 

2 Acts of Classis of Amsterdam. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 371. 

3 Col. Docs. N. Y. ii. 111-112. 
< Ibid. 61. 



^■-■j'^^..r^. 



''^sd:'i£^^% 



:-d- -ttr :^^ 4fi^ m£ is^ m \m. i^% 



% ':t v^: -m m'm i^ mm. 



■ ^€ K ;c 



y^ It ^ ^^ 

'# ti^' ^^ 

#■ ■^^ X '^^ 
^' '^ti mi 

1^' i< "^if- 11 
K M M 

Hi M ''H^ 
.v' (4i ;*! 

uf- uf- nr 



132 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

concluded by another hymn, after which the court 
was to assemble for the transaction of public business. 
Although the society was to be composed of persons of 
different creeds, each member of the community had to 
declare his religious persuasion, for "all intractable 
people, such as those in communion with the Roman 
See, usurious Jews, English stiff necked Quakers, Puri- 
tans, foolhardy believers in the millenium, and obsti- 
nate modem pretenders to revelation" were not 
admitted into the colony.^ In April, twenty-five 
Mennonite families declared their willingness to settle 
in the City's colony in New Netherland, if the City would 
loan each family two hundred guilders in addition to the 
passage money, for the repayment of which the whole 
body was to be bound. The authorities only granted 
each family a loan of one hundred guilders, including 
their passage money. ^ A few months later, the con- 
tract^ between the Burgomasters and Regents of the 
City of Amsterdam and Pieter Cornelius Plockhoy, the 
leader of the Mennonite settlers for the South River, 
was concluded for the tract of land at the Whorekill, 
which was to be exempt from all taxation for a term of 
twenty years. Twenty-five hundred guilders were 
raised by the City of Amsterdam and loaned to this 
association, which was also bound in its entirety for the 
repayment of this debt. 

In the summer of the same year, Hinyossa, 
the successor of Alrichs, who had died in 1659, offered 

* O'Callaghan, New Netherland, ii. 465-9. Kort Verhaal van 
Niewe Nederlandt, Gelegenthiet, Natuurlyke Voorrechten byzon- 
dere Bequaemheyt tur Vervolkingk, etc. 

2Col. Docs.N. Y. ii. 176. 

^ Ibid. 176-177. 



j-'-*^ ■:^ iW^ v«r v^ ?^ i^, £#^ 



?r ^:t v^; -ittf iifif- iit|_ j^jsfej?^^, 



ICj^ 






>l|^ W '^i 

\ ^ st ":^' 



nf ^it^ 'M- 



134 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Hadson, who had died on his passage to America, both 
of which manifest the condition of the orthodox faith 
on the South River at the time. The children had not 
been baptized since the death of the Reverend WeHus, 
five years ago, and there were many persons in this 
region with "abominable sentiments," " who speak dis- 
respectfully of the Holy Scriptures."^ Meanwhile, the 
Directors of the Company had conceeded to the Burgo- 
masters of Amsterdam all the territory on the west side 
of the river and a tract three miles wide along the entire 
east bank. Thus the friction that existed between the 
magistrates of the City's colony and the authorities of 
the Company's colony at Altona was happily terminated. 
Since the death of Alrichs, the whole policy of his succes- 
sor, Hinyossa, was to claim independence from the con- 
trol of the Company's authority. He refused to have 
the proclamations of thanksgiving days sent by Stuy- 
vesant published, and appointed days of thanksgiving in 
his own name instead.^ A settlement of the question 
became urgent. The cession of this territory was also 
made in the hope that thus a barrier would be placed 
to the encroachments of Maryland, by active coloniza- 
tion on the part of the City of Amsterdam as the 
Burgomasters were bound to transport four hundred 
settlers thither every year. Although the City had 
even thought of restoring to the Company the territory 
previously obtained, the Burgomasters now persuaded 
themselves to continue and even increase their colonial 
enterprise, as "there is now as good an opportunity as 

^Selyns to Classis of Amsterdam. June o, 1664. Eccl. Recs. 
N.Y. 1.550. 

2 Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 390. 



, ^m w.l- imt r^ 



nr' tS m % 'K ^^^ *5^ ^;^'i*^ 

?r: :t 'i^i m i^ m H M-i^-. 



Mt^ M 






i 



■^ ... V ,• 



ij* ^if^ ^^- <?i 
. =ii' i€ ^^i^ 

u?' ur> w 



CHAPTER V 

The Religious Factors in the English Immigration 

A constant stream of English immigration into the 
Province of New Netherland began when the West 
India Company, under pressure from the States General 
surrendered, in the fall of 1638, its monopoly of the fur 
trade, opened to free competition also the other internal 
trade of New Netherland to colonists of the Province, 
and extended all these privileges not only to the inhabi- 
tants of the United Provinces, but also to their allies 
and friends who might be inclined to sail thither to 
engage in the cultivation of the land/ Although this 
English immigration was at first composed only of 
individual settlers from Virginia and New England, the 
Provincial government in the year following felt the 
necessity of assuring itself of their allegiance. The 
English settlers were, therefore, ordered to subscribe to 
an oath of fidelity "to their High Mightinesses the 
Lords States General, his Highness of Orange, and the 
Noble Director and Council of New Netherland ; to fol- 
low the Director or any of his Council, wherever they 
shall lead; to give instant warning of any treason, or 

^ O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, i. 200-3 (The 
proclamation is here printed in full.) Broadhead, History of New 
York, i, 288. 

(136) 



}(i "«ff V^ m '4 i?^ A '^ J^ . 



'.i^ "it sif- ' 






X ^; '-W ■!> •^•■oir- 



^W ¥: '^€ 
#■ ?€. % '^^\ 

n < v^- «^ 

m '% '* 
^f: "i^- M jn 

;.M M >^^ 
f '\t' i^ »-^ 

■^^ M ;^ , 

i!^ iW iif 4^ 

i .ui ^r H 

ul' >l(< ^If ' 



138 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ister of the Dutch Reformed Church.^ With the exten- 
sion of the rights of trade and property to foreigners, 
there might naturally be expected an increase of dis- 
sent. This may be the explanation of the more detailed 
religious legislation in the articles proposed by the West 
India Company, which recognized the importance of 
establishing the proper order for public worship in the 
first commencement and planting of the population 
according to the practice established by the govern- 
ment of the Netherlands. The decree which followed 
is of great interest, on account of the close resemblance 
of its phraseology to the decree drafted by Stuyvesant 
against the conventicles which later arose principally 
amongst the English settlers of Long Island. Al- 
though religion was to be taught and preached in the 
Province of New Netherland ''according to the confes- 
sion and formularies of unity . . . publicly accepted in 
the respective churches" of the fatherland, no person 
was thereby to be "in any wise constrained or ag- 
grieved in his conscience," but every person was to be 
"free to live in peace and all decorum, provided he take 
care not to frequent any forbidden assemblies or con- 
venticles, much less collect or get up any such ; and fur- 
ther abstain from all public scandals and offenses 
which the magistrate is charged to prevent by all fitting 
reproofs and admonitions, and if necessary to advise the 
Company from time to time of what may occur there 
herein, so that confusion and misunderstanding may 
be timely obviated and prevented." The Company 

^Cf. Art. xxvii. The union of minister, schoolmaster and 
Comforter of the sick, evidently refers to the Dutch Reformed 
Church. Col. Docs. N. Y. ii. 551-7. 



: ^ M 



>ir \u % 



.ij- )€ ^'^ 
J- ■ -. "" ..." i>^ 



i- i«f- .H.i *•»• 

U?' ^if- uf 



140 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Their deputies to the Assembly of the XIX were to urge 
free access to New Netherland for the Count of Solms 
and other inhabitants of those countries. They were 
also instructed to return with the conditions of such col- 
onization, which the West India Company had been 
ordered to enact. If the Company failed to submit the 
new charter for approval and ratification to the States 
General, their High Mightinesses threatened to grant 
such a charter independent of the Company through 
the plentitude of its own power. ^ Finally on July 19, 
1640, the new charter of Freedoms and Exemptions was 
promulgated, of which "all good inhabitants of the 
Netherlands and all others inclined to plant any colon- 
ies in New Netherland" might take advantage. The 
provisions of this revised charter in regard to religion 
are much less liberal in tone than the articles that had 
been proposed before by the Company. The subjec- 
tion of the Church to the civil authority, which is 
expressed in all the Confessions of the Reformed 
Churches, also found its expression in this charter. 
It reserved to the Company the founding of churches, 
and to the Governor and Council the cognizance of all 
cases of religion.^ The decree renewing the establish- 
ment of the Dutch Reformed Church in a negative form 
emphasizes the hostile spirit of the new constitution of 
the country towards dissent. "And no other religion 
shall be publicly admitted in New Netherland except 

* Proceedings of States General, May 31, 1640, in Col. Docs. N.Y. 
i. 118. The house of Solms had a county of about four hundred 
square miles, situated on the banks of the Lahn, near Nassau, 
Hesse and Wetzlar. Cf Bouillet, iv. 319 Calvinism was preval- 
ent in that region. 

2 Cf. two last Arts, of the Freedoms and Exemptions. Ibid. 123 



i •^-.^T "--..<-: iW .«rf »3aT J#' :«¥^i *Afi> 



f :# v^: i^^ ^^ Mi^.Mj4 1 



iJl aff 









•1 



I. 



X- y. ^^ 



II 






142 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

also many Puritans or Independents, and many athe- 
ists and various servants of Baal among the English 
under this government, who conceal themselves under 
the name of Christians; it would create still greater 
confusion, if the obstinate and immovable Jews came 
to settle here."^ It may be interesting to note that the 
religious situation remained practically the same even 
after the cessation of Dutch rule. Governor Andros 
reported in 1678 that there were "religions of all 
sorts, one Church of England, several Presbyterians and 
Independents, Quakers and Anabaptists, of several 
sects, some Jews, but Presbyterians and Independents 
most numerous and substantial."^ Eight years later 
Governor Dongan affords a still clearer insight into the 
diversity of belief and the prevalence of religious indif- 
ference. "Here be not many of the Church of Eng- 
land; few Roman Catholics; abundance of Quakers; 
preachers, men and women especially ; singing Quakers ; 
ranting Quakers ; Sabatarians ; Antisabatarians ; some 
Anabaptists; some Independents; some Jews; in short 
of all sorts of opinion there are some, and the most of 
none at all."^ This religious indifference was not 
merely a later development under English rule, but a 
part of the heritage received from the Dutch. 

The concession of the new charter of Freedoms and 
Exemptions for New Netherland coincided with the rise 
of a migratory movement in New England, where the 
poverty of the soil gave the settlers little inducement to 
remain. In the words of Winthrop, "many men began 

1 Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 336. 

2 Col Docs. N. Y. iii. 262. 
^ Ibid. 415 



fl . S^^J^i- >v^^ ..r^..f- --h.^ -^-^li-^ 















!J 



I 



".* tC '' 
4 MM 

s 'W -^^ 

^ -t , "4 '^^' 

;^f ^if; m 

^4T .r J< 



144 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Netherland about the conditions for a settlement of the 
English under Dutch jurisdiction. Kieft no doubt 
thought that settlements of Englishmen, bound by an 
oath of allegiance to the States General and to the West 
India Company, would prove a good barrier to further 
encroachments on the part of New England govern- 
ments. The English were, therefore, permitted to settle 
in Dutch territory on equal terms with the other colon- 
ies of the Province* in accordance with the provisions 
of the charter of 1640, which became the basis of all 
future grants from the Dutch to the English. This 
guaranteed them practically "the very same liberties, 
both ecclesiastical and civil, which they enjoyed in the 
Massachusetts."^ They were not granted, as some his- 
torians seem to think, freedom of religion, but freedom 
of their religion. The pronoun is essential and saves the 
"fair terms" to the English from being a violation of 
the colonial charter just promulgated by the West 
India Company. Both the Dutch of New Netherland 
and the English of New England felt that their religion 
did not differ "in fundamentals." Robinson himself, 
the founder of the "New England Way," had declared 
as early as 161 9 "before God and men, that we agree so 
entirely with the Reformed Dutch Churches in the mat- 
ter of religion, that we are ready to subscribe to all and 
every one of the articles of faith of those churches, as 
they are contained in the Harmony of Confessions of 

^Journal of New Netherland (1641-1646). Col Docs, N. Y. i. 
181; For the conditions of an English colony, Cf. Council minute, 
June 6, 1641, in Col, Docs. N. Y, xiii. 8. 

2 Winthrop's Journal, ii. 35 (ed, Orig Narratives of Early Am. 
Hist.) 



^. J^% ^"^.^^'^.^^^-.-^'^.^i^. 



146 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

that the Westminister Assembly "had agreed upon a 
certain plan of church government, practically the same 
in most points as that of the Reformed Church of this 
country, and had laid the same before the Parliament of 
England ... for approval," they experienced great 
gladness and singular "satisfaction" in "the assurance 
that between the English Church and our Church there 
should be effected a similar form of government."^ 
Even the triumph of Independency over Presbyterian- 
ism in England did not change this friendly feeling of 
the Dutch towards the English Puritans. Upon the 
restoration, the States General of the United Provinces 
permitted ' ' all Christian people of tender conscience in 
England and elsewhere, oppressed, full liberty to erect 
a colony in the West Indies between New England and 
Virginia in America, .on the conditions and privileges 
granted by the committees of the respective chambers 
representing the Assembly of the XIX. .Therefore, if 
any of the English, good Christians . .shall be rationally 
disposed to transport themselves to the said place 
under the conduct of the United States, (they) shall 
have full liberty to live in the fear of the Lord."^ 
Thus both English Congregationalists and English 
Presbyterians found a welcome in New Netherland, 
although the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, of the 
Province naturally favored the latter, whose agreement 
with the Reformed Church was not limited to "funda- 
mentals," but also extended to church polity in detail. 
When the Court of Massachusetts learned of the 
intention of these families in Lynn and Ipswich to set- 

^ Synods of North and South Holland, Eccl Recs.JN. Y. i. 192. 
2 Doc. Hist N Y.iii. 37-39. 






■i^J-ffiSftH;'MlfflKSyf?T!Ji?i5?^^ 









4^ .» 

« M rc. 



.^c ^^.^f- 1 



H 



1 5HL i^ , 



^. J^ 



■W. * i^t 

I, « 

U .% ¥ 
f ¥' '^■^'! 3 
i< "ri^; i^ 

i '^^ M ^ 

W H ^^ 
;^ W ^^ 

\^ W <?|V 

^^ "^^ iJl 



148 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Early in 1642, the Rev. Francis Doughty, Presbyter- 
ian minister, and his associates obtained a patent from 
the Director General and Council of New Netherland for 
a settlement at Mespath on Long Island. Doughty had 
been a Church of England clergyman. Silenced for 
non-conformity, he emigrated to Massachusetts in 1637, 
and settled at Cohannet, now Taunton, where he soon 
"found that he had got out of the frying pan into the 
fire."* According to the account of Lechford, there 
was a church gathered in Taunton, comprising ten or 
twenty to the exclusion of the rest of the inhabitants. 
Doughty "opposed the gathering of the Church there, 
alleadging that according to the Covenant of Abraham, 
all mens children that were of baptized parents, and so 
Abraham's children, ought to be baptized." In obe- 
dience to the request of the ministers of the church, the 
magistrate ordered the constable to expel him from the 
Assembly on the plea that he was raising a disturbance. 
He was then forced to leave the town with his wife and 
children.^ Doughty evidently had a following amongst 
the inhabitants of the town with Presbyterian ten- 
dencies who were not church members. Francis 
Doughty first went to Rhode Island, to which also Mr. 
Richard Smith, "a most respectable inhabitant and 
prime leading man in Taunton in Plymouth Colony" 
came, on leaving Plymouth "for his conscience's sake, 



^ Remonstrance of New Netherland to the States General, July 
28, 1649. Care must be exercised in the use of this document, as the 
author Dr van der Donck is pleading the case of his father-in-law 
the Rev. Doughty. 

2 Lechford, Plaine Dealing, p. 91 (ed. J. H. Trumbull). 



■?/ '.'!■ .nl ♦'?l "f ** i'\e..~ 






i^i.J^ i^ 






irf vffl ill 



4MJ%. 
iff. 1% >« 



•vjf^ 4.! v.; /n'l-i 



4 * M 

M «^ ^^ 

■/€ .^4 ^^^' 
M^ W H 

•i^f .n(. t 

■ 'M M 'n 

't ')fi, iff 



I50 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

enjoy the same privileges as other subjects and to 
freely exercise their religion." The Director General 
and Council, in virtue of the desires of the Company, 
granted the petitioners permission to settle in the 
County of Westchester, which was then known as 
"Vredeland" or "the land of Peace. "^ The following 
summer, the patent was issued for the territory that he 
and his companions had occupied, but it makes no men- 
tion of religion.^ Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, with Collins, 
her son-in-law, and all her family,also moved, in the sum- 
mer of 1642, into Dutch territory and settled only a few 
miles east of the Throgmorton settlement on Pelham 
Neck near New Rochelle. The memory of her resi- 
dence there is still preserved in the name of Hutchin- 
son's River, the small stream that separates the Neck 
from the town of East Chester. The New England 
authorities understood very well the signification of this 
secession. Winthrop tells us that "these people had 
cast off ordinances and churches, and now at last their 
own people, and for larger accommodations had sub- 
jected themselves to the Dutch. "^ The New England 
mind was inclined to see the hand of God in the calami- 
ties which the Indian war brought upon these settle- 
ments of wayward Englishmen. 

Kieft had provoked a general uprising of the Algon- 
quin tribes against the Dutch by the massacre of the 
River Indians, men, women and children, who had 
taken refuge at Vriesendael, Pavonia and Manhattan 
from the Mohawks in search of the tribute from these 

* Council minute, October 2, 1642. Col Docs. N. Y. xiii. 10. 
2 Ibid. 

* Winthrop's Journal, ii. 138. 



151 



>^8. tm- if 






Col. 



m l^: Ml 

'KM M 



1^ .?^ M 
^ ^^ lif \r ^ 

X i^: «t 
,* i^ '^ 



1 52 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

attributes not to Rev. Th. Welde, but to the 
pen of Governor Winthrop, with the exception of the 
introduction. "God's hand is the more apparently- 
seen herein, to pick out this woeful woman, to make her 
and those belonging to her an unheard-of heavy- 
example of their cruelty above others."^ The Indians 
then attacked Throgmorton's settlement and killed 
"such of Mr. Throgmorton's and Mr. Comhill's fami- 
lies as were at home ; in all sixteen, and put their cattle 
into their houses and there burnt them." Fortunately 
a boat touched at the settlement at the time of the 
Indian attack, to which some women and children fled 
and were saved, but two of the boatmen going up to the 
houses were shot and killed. The few settlers who 
escaped removed again to Rhode Island.^ 

The fate of Captain Daniel Patrick^ was'^ also con- 
sidered by Winthrop as a punishment from God. 
Patrick had been brought from Holland, where he was 
a common soldier of the Prince's guard, and given a 
Captain's commission by the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony. Although there was little religion or 
morality in the soldier, he was admitted a member of 
the church of Watertown and made a freeman. Pat- 
rick soon "grew proud and very vicious, for though 
he had a wife of his own, a good Dutch woman and 
comely, yet he despised her and followed after other 
women. ' '^ On the discovery of his evil life. Captain 
Patrick removed to Connecticut and, in company with 
Robert Feake, began in 1639 the settlement of Green- 

^ Adams, Charles Francis, ed. Antinomianism in the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay, 1636-38. 

2 Winthrop's Journal, ii. 138. 

3 Ibid. 153. 






- ■ v^ ;^ 

^ ^ 'M ii( 

\^i < ,^ 

M iWt' T^ 






M i^- Vi([ 



V -iC tit ^^ 

:i^ 1^ '^ 
■- 'lit >iif "'I 

H \# \Hr 

: it "'^- '^^ 
t^, "^, ijf 



154 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

"so he fell down dead and never spake." The mur- 
derer was imprisoned but escaped out of custody. 
"This was the fruit of (Captain Patrick's) wicked 
course and breach of covenant with his wife, with the 
church, and that state who had called him and main- 
tained him, and he found his death from that hand 
where he sought protection. It is observable that he 
was killed upon the Lord's day in the time of the after- 
noon exercise, (for he seldom went to public assem- 
blies.) "^ 

In the spring of 1644, another English colony of 
Presbyterians settled on Long Island under the 
Dutch jurisdiction. When the church of Wethersfield 
had been so rent by "contention and alienation of 
minds" that the two mediators, sent out by the parent 
church of Watertown, "could not bring them to any 
other accord than this, that the one party must remove 
to some other place, "^ the seceders obtained from New 
Haven the lands that the colony had bought from the 
Rippowan Indians, and founded the town of Stamford. 
Over thirty families were settled by the fall of 
1 64 1. A feeling of dissatisfaction also developed in 
some inhabitants of this town, which led to a migration 
from Stamford to Long Island. This in all probability 
was occasioned by a change in the right of suffrage, 
necessitated by the incorporation of Stamford into the 
Colony of New Haven, which limited its right of suf- 
frage to church members. The Presbyterians, who had 
amongst their number two ministers of their persuasion, 
Richard Denton and Robert Fordham, sent a commit- 

* Winthrop's Jottmal, ii. 154. 
■'Ibid. i. 307-8. 



':t '^^^ -^^^ '# 






155 



''^ '^ % 

mi iSl .i'!( 



M. M\ H 



^ fir \# V 

-< '*^^: ^t 



.^••?: «"•;( •r*^: 



156 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the Reformed religion, which they profess,* with the 
ecclesiastical discipline thereunto belonging." It may 
be of interest to note that the name of Richard Denton 
is not found in the list of the patentees.^ 

The history of the early church of Hempstead 
reveals no polity of the church apart from the govern- 
ment of the town. This close union of things spiritual 
and temporal is well symbolized in the use of the same 
edifice both as a church and as a town-house for the 
transaction of public business. It also was manifested 
in an order issued by the General Court with the consent 

Sacra, so accurately considering the fourfold state of man, in his 
created purity, contracted deformity, restored beauty and celestial 
glory, that judicious persons, who have seen it, very much lament 
the churches being so much deprived of it. At length he got into 
Heaven beyond the clouds, and so beyond storms; waiting the 
return of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the clouds of Heaven, when he 
will have his reward among the saints." Magnalia Christi, i. 398. 

His epitaph also gives a flattering estimate : 

Hie jacet et fruitur Tranquilla sede Richardus Dentonius Cujus 
Fama perennis erit, 

Incola jam coeli velut Astra micantia fulget. 

Que multes Fidei Lumina Clara dedit. 

Flint, Early Long Island, 126. 
^Patent, November 16, 1644, printed in Thompson, History of 
Long Island, ii. 5-6. 

2 It would be of interest to have the question solved of the 
relation of the document on file in the Public Record Office, London, 
dated 1628, to the settlers of the village of Hempstead on Long 
Island The Lord Keeper Coventry has endorsed it: "this letter 
was set up on the church of Hamsted in County Hertford and deliv- 
ered by Mr Sanders of the Star Chamber." It is addressed, 
"Michael Mean- well to Matthew Mark- well at his house in Muse- 
much parish," from Little- worth, which is the name of a parish in 
Berks. The letter gives the reasons why the author and some others 
have decided to go to New England. The objections urged against 
the Established Church refer both to polity and doctrine. Ceremo- 
nies, that have no express warrant in the Word of God, may not be 
used in the worship of God without sin. On appeal to the works of 
Cartwright, Penry and Knox, exception is taken to the teaching, 
that God's predestination resulted from his foreknowledge of good 
and evil, that Christ died for all men, that all children baptized are 
saved, that a man may fall away from grace, and that the Sabbath 
is not a divine institution. N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg. 1. 398. 



't '\^i M' ^4'''t- 



157 



4 'if.;C 



M M ^4 

■^€ ;4 M' 

:< W- M 



■ >k| M' 'J 

4 Iff Vf^ 

-uf: %ir ■■■: 



158 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

its provisions against trespassers. This was no doubt 
done at the instance of the town authorities themselves. 
The united action of the town authorities and the Pro- 
vincial Government is also indicative of the sense of the 
union of the Church of the town with the Reformed 
Church of the Province. This is also shown by the mi- 
nistration of Richard Denton in the English Congregation, 
organized in the capital of the Province, which wor- 
shipped in the same church building within the fort 
as the Dutch and French Reformed. An hour was as- 
signed to them, that would not conflict with the use of 
the church by the Dutch congregation. The dis- 
tinction between English Church and Dutch Church is 
clearly drawn in an ancient book of records in the 
Briggs family. "Sarah Woolsey was born in New 
York, August y^ 3d, in y® year 1650, August 7, she was 
baptized in y^ English church by Mr. Denton, Capt. 
Newtown godfather, George Woolsey was born in New 
York, October 10, 1652 ; October 12 he was baptized in 
the Dutch church, Mrs. Newton godmother. Thomas 
Woolsey was bom at Hempstead, April 10, 1655, and 
there baptized by Mr. Denton. Rebeckar Woolsey 
was bom at New York February 13, 1659, February 16 
she was baptized in the Dutch church, Mr. Bridges, god- 
father and her grandmother godmother." ^ This close 
communion with the provincial Church hardly admits 
any doubt in regard to the character of the Church of 
Hempstead, and its minister, who moreover is expressly 
designated by the Dutch clergyman as a " Presbyterian 
preacher, who is in agreement with our church in 

* Briggs, C. A., Puritanism in N. Y. Mag. of Am. Hist, xiii, 42. 



r^-i J*^-.'^ „. •^i^ ^ 



'*ii_-^V':V .,,. 



i-i 



il: 



'''it y.h 



I 



!< ^< '^^ 



l6o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

by their personal appearance.* The authorities of both 
town and Province were anxious to obtain ' ' an able and 
orthodox minister." In 1660, Stuyvesant took ad- 
vantage of the departure of a New England minister, 
Mr. William Leveretts (Leveridge) by boat from New 
Amsterdam to acquaint the Directors with the needs of 
the English, who had been deprived of religious instruc- 
tion for some time. In the spring of 1661, the Director 
General was informed that there were many unbaptized 
children in Hempstead in consequence of the long va- 
cancy in the ministry of the town. He promised to send 
as soon as possible one of the Dutch ministers to admin- 
ister the sacrament, "hoopinge and not doubtinge 
that yow will use all possible meanes that the 
towne may tymely be supplyed with an able and 
orthodox minister to the edification of God's glorie 
and your owne Salvation." A few weeks later, 
Samuel Drisius visited the town, preached a sermon, 
and baptized forty-one children and an aged 
woman. ^ Finally, the services of the Rev. Jonah 
Fordham, the son of the old minister Robert Fordham, 
who had removed to Southampton, were engaged by the 
town of Hempstead. The minister 's salary was fixed at 
seventy pounds sterling a year, which was to be raised 
by a rate levied on every man in town. When some 
refused ' ' to contribute to the Maintenancy of a Protes- 
tant Minister," the magistrates were empowered by the 
provincial council "not only to constrain those that are 
unwilling, but by further denyal to punish them as they 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, October 2 2, 
1657. Eccl Recs. N. Y. i. 410-11, 

2 Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 497. Stuyvesant to Magistrates of 
Heemstede, March 25, 1661. 



H'-^pe-in; m '*€ }^ :4jA.j^ , 

■« W. -iJf. ;#■ fj^. »% ♦it jWi pi 



"M ^ ''^^ 



■•'-J^ \-J' ■'-L*? 



.4 W i?|T ' 



1 62 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

this concession was found in ' ' the Custome and manner 
of Holland." The settlers of the town of Flushing were 
the first to receive this concession in their charter. A 
few months later Gravesend received a charter with the 
same provision. ' 

The Reverend Francis Doughty had returned to the 
colony of Mespath upon the termination of the Indian 
war. Now internal dissensions arrested the progress of 
the settlement. Doughty claimed the privileges of a 
patroon and demanded from the settlers payment of 
their lands and an annual quitrent.^ His associates, 
Richard and William Smith, opposed these proceedings 
because the minister was only one of a number of equal 
patentees.^ These contentions probably gave rise to a 
defamatory song concerning the minister and his 
daughter, for which William Gerritsen, on June 10,1645, 
was found guilty of libel and sentenced to stand bound 
to the May-pole in the fort with two rods around his 
neck and the libel over his head until the conclusion of 
the English sermon, and threatened to be flogged and 
banished, if he should dare to sing the song again.' 
Doughty was evidently then ministering to the English 
congregation of New Amsterdam, whither he had again 
returned after a half year's residence in the Mespath 
Colony. The case between Doughty and his associates 
was brought before the Provincial Court, and the Direc- 
tor General and Council decided that he had no control 



^ Tienhoven's answer to the Remonstrance, July 28, 1649. Col. 
Docs. N. Y. i, 424-31. 

2 Council minutes, February 7, March 7, 1646. O'Callaghan, Cal. 
Hist. MSS. (Dutch), i. 107-8 

3 Council minutes, June 10, 1645. Ibid. 95. 






IJ^iJ- 






i 



S;;CK3 



iW, i^i '^. , 



i>l; i< 'iff 



164 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

was thus assured a salary of six hundred guilders a 
year, to be raised from the voluntary contributions of 
the inhabitants of the town. Under these circum- 
stances, a conflict might be expected to develop in 
Flushing. In fact, differences soon manifested them- 
selves and many began to absent themselves from the 
sermon and refused to contribute their share to the 
maintenance of the minister.^ In spite of Stuyvesant's 
intervention, the salary remained unpaid.^ The differ- 
ences even became more pronounced and disturbed the 
peace and unanimity of the town, which seems to have 
been rent into two factions.' William Harck, the 
sheriff of Flushing and his associates with the represen- 
tatives of the opposite party : Thomas Sael, John Law- 
rence, and William Turner, presented their case to the 
Director General and Council with the request for a 
pious, learned and Reformed minister, who was to be 
supported by the contributions of each inhabitant ac- 
cording to his ability. The Director General and Coun- 
cil admitted the justice of their case and resolved to 
adopt the measures necessary to promote peace, union 
and tranquility in ecclesiastical and civil affairs. 
Doughty 's restive nature could not suffer this to pass in 

sation. O'Callaghan's insertion "of belief" after articles is mis- 
leading. Hist, of New Netherland. ii. 226. 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, August 5, 
1657. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 397. In the letter of October 22, they 
accompany their request for two English preachers with the petition 
"that direction may be given to the magistracy that the money be 
paid by the English to the magistrate, and not to the preacher, which 
gives rise to dissatisfaction." 

2 Mandeville, Flushing, Past and Present. When Doughty insti- 
tuted a suit for the payment of his salary, it was discovered that 
the contract had been destroyed, William Lawrence's wife having 
"put it under a pye." Cf. Flint, Early Long Island, p. 174. 

3 Col. Docs N. Y.xiv. 82. 






i.«. M- y. 



1 66 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

others ' * the bread in the form and manner in which the 
sacrament is usually celebrated and given." This was 
done without any authority, ecclesiastical or secular, 
contrary to the ecclesiastical rules of the Fatherland 
and especially to the placards of the Director General 
and Council, " expressly forbidding all such conventicles 
and gatherings, public or private, except the usual meet- 
ings, which are not only lawfully permitted, but also 
based on God's Word and ordered for the service of 
God, if they are held conformably to the Synod of Dort 
as in our Fatherland and in other churches of the 
Reformed Faith in Europe."^ As soon as information 
of these proceedings reached New Amsterdam, the 
Fiscal was despatched to Flushing to arrest the preacher 
and the sheriff. William Hallett was degraded from his 
office, fined fifty pounds Flemish for neglect of duty, 
and banished from the Province of New Netherland. 
A few days later, he petitioned for the remission of the 
sentence of banishment, which was granted on the pay- 
ment of the fine and the costs of the trial. ^ William 
Wickendam, in accordance with the provisions of the 
placard against conventicles, was condemned to a fine 
of one hundred pounds Flemish. After the payment of 
the fine and the costs incurred in his case, he was also to 
be banished from the Province, but as he was very poor, 
with a wife and children, and a cobbler by trade, his fine 
was remitted on the condition that, if he were caught 
within the province again, he was to pay the fine. 

No appeal was made to the charter of the town by 

^ Col Docs. N. Y. xiv. 369-70 Megapolensis and Drisins to 
Classis of Amsterdam. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 396-7. 

2 O'Callaghan, Calender of N. Y. Hist. MSS. (Dutch), i. p. 178. 



\m ''-m «''a *^ 

^€ M i* i: 



rr ^^ ^' m ■'* M ;^AJ^. 



g^ 



lb: I 



M >f, ^l^ 
f'^ii' 'in', h 

i '^' mr ^u 
^^c H H . 

'^4 U •?! ' 

- "M M '4 
M W '4>?- ' 

;^ 1i^- '^ M 

: >t '^' ^^ 

;■< W, iF?: "^ 



l68 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

roof carried off by a high wind in 1646 without injury to 
any of the inmates.^ Lechford tells us that "the good 
Lady was almost undone by buying Master Humphries 
farme, Swampscot, which cost her nine or eleven hun- 
dred pounds."^ Towards the end of the year 1642, 
Lady Deborah Moody, Mrs. King, and the wife of John 
Tilton were presented at the Quarterly Court "for 
houlding that the baptism of infants is not ordained of 
God."^ The following year, she was also "dealt withal 
by many of the elders and others, and admonished by 
the church of Salem,whereof she was a member, but, per- 
sisting still and to avoid further trouble, " she removed 
"from under civil and church watch" to the Dutch on 
Long Island with many others likewise infected with 
Anabaptism.^ Under these circumstances, it is not 
strange that the inhabitants of Gravesend should also 
obtain a charter that granted them "the free libertie of 
conscience according to the costome and manner of Hol- 
land, without molestation or disturbance from any 
Madgistrate or Madgistrates or any other Ecclesiastical 
Minister that may ptend jurisdiction over them."^ The 
patentees received the power and authority to build a 
town or towns, which must have excluded any disquali- 
fication for the office of a magistrate on the ground of 
Anabaptism. Nevertheless, the Director General Stuy- 
vesant and his Council insisted on a religious qualifica- 
tion for office in their answer to the remonstrance, that 

1 Win throp's Journal, ii. 289. 

2 Lechford, Plaine Dealing, 98-99. 

3 Lynn Recs. in Flint, Hist, of Early Long Island, 106, [notes 
1-2. 

^ Winthrop's Journal, ii. 126. 
5 Doc. Hist N. Y.i. 411. 



I'L -m..J.*y^ ^^■■^■'^.d^. 



M 4 »€ M i*- 4ft-.^J%^ 



'iff ^I 



•*>v '■^<- .vv 

^::€ ^4 M 

i^ Vff: ^t 
ht H 'C 

' W: '^if 'm- 



lii^ "^i 'M- ' 



lyo RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

organized ministry made them as ready to attack a 
"hireling" ministry, as the Quakers later became. On 
February 12, 1652, Megapolensis requested the Director 
and Council to restrain the Anabaptist Anna Smits 
"from using slanderous and calumniating expressions 
against God's Word and his servants."^ Meanwhile, 
the Quaker movement gained adherents in the town, 
who soon became the object of a religious persecution. 
Another party also arose in Gravesend, which appealed, 
on April 12, 1660, to the Provincial government for 
relief in their religious destitution. Ten of the 
inhabitants of the village, only two of whom were 
English, the sheriff Charles Morgan and Lieutenant 
Nicholas Stillwell, informed the Director General and 
Council that "the licentious mode of living, the 
desecration of the Sabbath, the confusion of reli- 
gious opinion prevalent in the village made many grow 
cold in the exercise of Christian virtue, and almost sur- 
pass the heathens, who have no knowledge of God and 
his commandments." They requested, therefore, that 
"a preacher be sent here, that the glory of God may 
be spread, the ignorant taught, the simple and innocent 
strengthened, and the licentious restrained." Stuyve- 
sant and his Council were well pleased with this 
remonstrance and promised to fulfill their request, as 
soon as possible, but the English put an end to the 
Dutch rule before the promise was realized.^ 

The old settlement of Mespath never recovered 
entirely from the calamities of the Indian war. Even 
after the reoccupation of the colony, the dissensions 

1 Council minute. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 155-6. 

2 Council minute, April 12, 1660. Ibid. 406. 



4# # ^ 



: &f- "4 M 

*•• Vi- *v .f, ^V..iif/' 



/: V ■;^:: ^il 



:J 



'^^ 'M, ?i*f' '^' 

• 1^^ ;^^' "^i 

i^^; '^^ '^yf 1 

;i^ .r i^-. < 

'. uf^ Hf- ''^' 



172 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

preacher, "some inhabitants and unqualified persons 
ventured to hold conventicles and gatherings and 
assumed to teach the Gospel." Megapolensis and 
Drisius, therefore, petitioned the Director General and 
Council, on January 15, 1656, to intervene and provide 
for the continuance of legitimate religious worship 
during the absence of Mr. Moore by the appointment of 
a suitable person to read the Bible and some other 
orthodox work on Sunday, until other provisions were 
made. Stuyvesant entrusted the choice of a suitable 
reader to the two ministers with the advice of the 
magistrates and the best informed inhabitants of New- 
town. At the same time, he expressed his decision to 
have placards issued against those persons who,without 
either ecclesiastical or secular authority, acted as 
teachers in interpreting and expounding God's Holy 
Word. ^ On February i , 1 6 5 6, all religious meetings, ex- 
cept the Reformed, were prohibited under severe penal- 
ties.^ Meanwhile, the wife of John Moore, with her seven 
or eight children, apparently continued to dwell in the 
town minister's house. In the beginning of the year 
1657, information was lodged with Stuyvesant that 
some of the inhabitants had in fact given Mr. Moore 
this house for his private use. The Director General 
promptly insisted that this house had been built "for a 
public use and successively for the Ministrij," and 
ordered the magistrates to submit an explanation of 
this strange proceeding.^ Mr. Moore again returned to 
Newtown and doubtless took up again the work of the 

^ Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 336-7. 

2 Recs. New Amsterdam, i. 20-21; ii. 34-35- 

3 Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 384. 






'■ 'HI '% 



V 'm W; 



'.«, «^fH '^i. 






i¥;^ ^It iJf, 
i:l^ .«r ?C. • 



174 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

go to rack and ruin for want of repair, to the great 
injury of religion in the town, which would thus 
be deprived of these resources for the continuance 
of a public ministry. Stuyvesant again insisted 
that the house and land "beeinge with our know- 
ledge, Consent and helpe buildt for the publyck 
use of the ministry," could not be "given and 
transported for a private heerytadge." Francis 
Doughty was, therefore, commanded to give and grant 
peaceful possession of this house and land to the School- 
master Richard Mills, and the magistrates and the 
inhabitants of the town ordered on their part to give to 
the heirs of Mr. Moore what was their due.^ Stuyvesant 
evidently tried to be very just towards Francis Doughty. 
On April 20 of the same year, Richard Mills was ordered 
to deliver to Mr. Doughty, trees, etc., planted and left 
on the lot of the deceased Mr. Moore. ^ After the surren-^ 
der of the minister's house, the town thoroughly re- 
paired the building. In the following year, the Rever- 
end William Leverich removed from Huntington, where 
he had been pastor, to Newtown, which welcomed his 
advent. Measures were adopted by the town to raise 
a salary for the new minister. Later the town gave 
him two parcels of meadow "for his encouragement 
among them," to which were added twelve acres more 
at the east end of Long Traines Meadow. The inhabi- 
tants now felt the need of a more suitable place of wor- 
ship, and on January 9, 1663, voted to build a meeting- 
house, but the disturbances leading up to the surrender 

1 Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 496. 

2 Council minute, April 20, 1661. O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. MSS. 
N. Y. (Dutch), i. 223. 



'4 


[^'■L- 

' •! 


IM 




;t 




'i^ 


'i 


il * 












f "! 


\i£ )M m 


^;€ 


% 'M- ■ 


f ' 


'!/• i^': M 


m. 


W; ^t 




'^ M /M 


/^ 


^ M- ^^i ^ 




)£[ nt H 


H 




^M 


.jf M- : 


: » 


^: '^^ m 


^# 


Iff ^y- 




t "'^^ M 


H 


H V^ j 




^'■•lif^ ?^( 


M. 





: Hf 'If ^ '^- 



176 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

jurisdiction, which was terminated, on its annexation 
by Connecticut, in the fall of 1663. 

In 1656, colonists, mostly from Hempstead, who de- 
sired "a place to improve their labors," received land 
and leave to settle beyond the hills by the South Sea at 
Canarise. This was the beginning of the village of 
Jamaica, which was known to the Dutch by the name 
of Rustdorp. The new settlement enjoyed the usual 
privileges possessed by the villages of Middelburg, 
Breuckelen, Midwout and Amersfort/ Although Quaker 
dissent manifested itself in the town of Jamaica a 
month after the arrival of the Quakers in New Amster- 
dam, the town at large was of one way of thinking in 
religion, so that church affairs were considered and 
transacted at the town-meetings.^ Drastic measures 
were adopted by the Director General to stem the 
Quaker movement, which was also favored somewhat 
through the lack of an orthodox minister. It was 
in response to the urgent request of some of the 
townspeople, that Stuyvesant, in the beginning of 
1 66 1, sent Domine Drisius to baptize their children. 
On this occasion, the Dutch minister preached twice in 
Jamaica and baptized eight children and two aged 
women. ^ The position of the orthodox faith was 
strengthened in the town by the appointment of new 
magistrates: Richard Everett, Nathaniel Denton, and 
Andrew Messenger. These men had been informers 
against the Quakers in town, and Stuyvesant felt that 
they could be trusted to promote the Protestant cause, 

^ O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Netherland, ii. 323 

2 Onderdonck, H. Jr. Antiquities of the Parish Church, Jamaica. 
Am. Hist. Rec. i. 27. 

3 Col Docs. N. Y. xiv. 489-90. 






vfft i« 

r "ill 



*»^.L. r*v. >'»JL 



iff V^: 5W[ 



^^^ >C H r 

:^ M- ^C 



178 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

house and land was to revert to the town upon paying 
for such labor, as he had expended upon it, but if the 
town was the cause of his departure, then he was to be 
paid for what the house was worth. In the case of his 
death, the town reserved to itself the right of pre-emp- 
tion, if his wife should decide to sell.^ These liberal 
conditions were no doubt intended to make more certain 
this minister's continuance among them. The town 
now felt the need of a separate meeting house, 
which was built the same year. It was again 
agreed at the town-meeting that all the inhabi- 
tants of the town should pay toward the maintenance of 
a minister according to what they possess.^ There may 
have been some growth of dissent with a consequent 
refusal on the part of the dissenters to submit to the 
church rates imposed by the town. Such a movement 
was favored by the disturbed condition of the Island on 
the encroachments of English authority. 

A very significant movement of emigration from 
New Haven began to manifest itself on the restoration 
of Charles II. This colony only grudgingly acknow- 
ledged the King and in consequence had good reason to 
fear that the plan of Connecticut to absorb New Haven 
might be realized, as the King moreover bore no 
friendly feeling to this colony on account of its readiness 
to shelter the regicides Goffe and Whalley from 
his vengeance. The incorporation of New Haven 
was easily obtained by Governor Winthrop in the new 
charter graciously conceeded to the colony of Connecti- 

* Thompson, History of Long Island, ii. 100. 

2 Onderdonck, H. Jr. Antiquities of the Parish Church, Jamaica 
Town Recs. 



UMM,'^J%M 



-^''W'M 



':^ .r Ht. . 



l8o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

urged the continuance of all love and friendship 
between the two colonies, especially because of "our 
ioynt prf ession of ourr ff aith in our Lord Jesus Christ not 
differing in fundamentalls."^ The same idea is ad- 
vanced in the course of the negotiations with the New 
Haven petitioners in still greater detail. Application 
was first made by John Stickland of Huntington in the 
name of a company of Englishmen for information 
whether the disposal of the land at Achter Kol was still 
free and whether encouragement would be given to 
these Englishmen, if they should persist in their project 
to settle there on an inspection of the locality.^ In the 
beginning of June, 1661, Stuyvesant requested the 
English to send some of their number to view the 
land, after which the conditions for such a settlement 
might be established.^ Every courtesy was shown 
to the English envoys. On their return to New Haven, 
a committee was empowered by the English to conclude 
the terms, under which they with their friends and pos- 
terity could gradually settle in New Netherland at 
Achter Kol "for the enlargement of the Kingdom of 
Christ in the Congregational way and all other means of 
comfort in subordination hereunto." They were in 
hopes that ' ' the glory of God and benefit and welfare of 
the Dutch nation in America and the honor of their 
principals in Europe" would be promoted in a larger 
measure by their plantation than by any other settle- 
ment under Dutch jurisdiction. As they were "true 

1 Stuyvesant to Gov. Endicott. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 179. 

2 John Stickland to Brian Newtown, April 29, 1661. Col. Docs, 
N. Y. xiii. 195. 

3 June 2, 1661. Ibid. 









AjA. 



^ M-. n. 



t M In- M 
H '^* )*. . 






■■^ a?' ?iif^ .'^ 



" M >sl /^! 

i\(l 'vi( vyf: ; 



1 82 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

"by common consent such orders according to scripture 
as may be requisite for the suppressing of hairesies, 
schismes and false worships and for the estabHshment of 
truth with peace in those EngHsh churches." They 
also demanded the Governor and courts of New Amster- 
dam to protect the English churches and Synods 
"from any that oppose them or be injurious to them." 
The realization of this projected colony was impeded by 
the demand for practical autonomy in civil affairs, 
which the new colonists wished to regulate without the 
right of appeal to the Provincial government, ' ' accord- 
ing to the fundamentalls receiued in New Haven Col- 
lonie," as far as it should suit "Christ's ends" and the 
conditions of the new settlement. Stuyvesant was 
ready to give the petitioners the usual privileges of the 
charter of 1640 in regard to the election of magistrates, 
the administration of justice and all civil affairs,^ but 
this apparently did not satisfy the demands of the New 
Haven people, who sent John Gregory in the following 
spring to New Amsterdam to negotiate more favorable 
terms. Stuyvesant was willing to make all possible 
concessions in regard to religion and he again adverted 
to the fact ' ' that there is noe at the least differency in 
the fundamentall points of religion, the differency in 
churches orders and government so small that wee doe 
not stick at it, therefore have left and leave still to the 
freedom off your owne consciences."^ In fact, Stuyvesant 
had before expressed the hope that even these differen- 
ces would be removed "by a neerer meetinge and con- 
ference ' ' between the Dutch and English ministers with 

*Col. Docs. N. Y.xiii. 210-11. 
2 Ibid. 216, March II, 1662. 









:*.«■]■ 



lif: ifS ,^i^| 


lit l# ^, 


■i< "M: M 



m, 'vif- iJT 



184 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

of this colony should take advice with some English 
minister or churches within the Dutch Province, but he 
now demanded that the approbation and consent of the 
Governor and Council be obtained for the calling of a 
Synod.* He readily yielded, however, to their demand 
to restrict the right of suffrage to church members and 
granted them power to make laws, which would be con- 
firmed by the Director General and Council, if they 
proved not to be repugnant to the laws of the United 
Netherlands and the Province of New Netherland.^ 
All other demands were also granted. Negotiations 
now ceased for some time, as the English were waiting 
for the return of Mr. Winthrop in the hope of a settle- 
ment of the claims of the Dutch, disputed by Connecticut, 
and also as no further concessions could be made with- 
out the consent of the Directors in Holland.' Mean- 
while, Stuyvesant sent a report of these proceedings to 
the Directors, who warmly approved the plan of the 
English to settle under the Company's jurisdiction at 
Achter Kol, as they would serve as a strong outpost 
against the Raritan and Nevesink Indians. This was 
of such importance to the Dutch Province that the 
Company was ready even to make concessions in the 
matter of appeal in criminal and capital cases. There 
were grave reasons against the concessions, as the New 
Haven colonists punished with death adultery, fornica- 
tion, and similar offences according to the Law and Word 
of God, while the laws of the Netherlands were much 
more lenient in this regard. Nevertheless, the Company 

* May 30, 1662. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiii. 221. 

2 Ibid. 222. 

'Robert Treatt to Stuyvesant, June 29, 1663 Ibid. 267. 



'^'■^MiM-M. 









if5. ;.sg; \?i,t 






K kl i^: ' 



1 86 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

matter ended, doubtless on account of the rumors 
that were prevalent in the New England colonies at this 
time, that the Province of New Netherland was soon to 
be subjected to English authority. In spite of the con- 
quest of the Dutch Province, some of the New Haven 
people persisted in their design to settle in those parts 
on the presentation of a favorable opportunity. This 
occurred on the creation of the Province of New Jersey, 
which offered them permission to settle under a town 
constitution, limiting the franchise to communing 
church members. This settlement, under the leader- 
ship of Robert Treatt and the minister Abraham Pier- 
son, was established between the years 1665-67, with 
colonists from Guilford, Branford and Milford, on the 
Passaic River. The town first received the name of 
Milford, which was soon changed to Newark, the 
English home of its pastor.^ 

^ Cf. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, ii. 12-15. 



itii .if| M 



^vjI^^ 






i# 'iW- ^^ ■ 

r ■'«' n M 

:t- n H ■ 



- 74' ?i*f '^' 

w ijf 'i^" ' 
^ 1^: % m 



i< W; iK; ^S 



1 88 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

maintenance of the Reformed Religion than the eccle- 
siastical authorities, who, in obedience to the command 
of the Classis of Amsterdam, " employed all diligence 
to ward off the wolves from the tender lambs of Christ."^ 

On October 4, 1653, the Lutherans petitioned the 
Director General for permission to call a Lutheran min- 
ister from Holland and to organize a separate congre- 
gation for the public exercise of the Unaltered Augsburg 
Confession here in New Netherland. They had twice 
submitted a similar petition to the Governor, and 
had also addressed letters to the States of Holland and to 
the Directors of the West India Company to this effect.^ 
A twofold pretext was advanced in these letters' to 
Holland for their separation from the Reformed Church. 
They objected to the second question of the formula of 
baptism, used in the Dutch Church of New Amsterdam, 
in which, according to their statement, they were asked 
whether they acknowledged the dogma taught in the 
Christian Church "there" as the true doctrine. This 
was equivalent to a denial of their Lutheran Confession. 
Then they also objected to the strictness with which the 
Dutch ministers demanded the parents and sponsors to 
be present at the baptism of their children. 

As soon as the Lutheran petition came to the know- 
ledge of the Dutch ministers in New Amsterdam, they 
appealed to Stuyvesant, who "would rather relinquish 
his office than grant permission in this matter, since it is 

1 Letter of Classis of Amsterdam to consistory in New Nether- 
land, May 26, 1656. in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 348-9. 

2 Letter of Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, 
October 6, 1653, Ibid. 317-18. 

3 Letter of the same to Director General and Council, August 23, 
1658. Ibid. 428-30. 









t W-W^^i 




^«{-; ««•?!,. ;%. 


1^ liK l# m 


'rf ^4^^ 


f "^il 'iM! s|| 


iff: IW' V# 


I ^¥' W HI 


^i(- M- M- ; 


f -'C ^r ^H 


'i^ t^^ ^^^ 


;W "^^f '^^" 


^^ 1^r '^4;" 'm 


WM '^r" 


' "i€ "'W aC 


^< \< iit 


' "^il" '^1^^ >^( 


VIM «?t i!*V 



190 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

cause of Christ. Under the influence of the Classis of 
Amsterdam, the Directors of the West India Company 
also classed with the Mennonites the English Inde- 
pendents amongst those who might urge claims for the 
freedom of religious worship upon the concession of 
such a privilege to the Lutherans. Some uneasiness 
was experienced in regard to the States of Holland, 
who might be inclined to grant the Lutheran petition, 
but these fears of the Classis were set at rest by the 
promise, by which the Directors of the West India Com- 
pany bound themselves to resist any such concession.* 
In this matter, the decision of the West India Company 
was pronounced finally on February 23, 1654, when the 
Directors resolved not to tolerate any Lutheran pastors 
there, nor any other public worship than the true 
Reformed. The Classis of Amsterdam was perfectly 
satisfied and did not doubt but that henceforth the 
Reformed Doctrine "would be maintained without 
being hindered by the Lutherans and other erring 
spirits."^ When the Directors of the Company an- 
nounced to Stuyvesant their absolute denial of the 
Lutheran petition, "pursuant to the customs hitherto 
observed by us and the East India Company," they 
recommended him to deny all similar petitions, but 
"in the most civil and least offensive way, and to em- 
ploy all possible but moderate means in order to induce 
them to listen, and finally join the Reformed Church, 

^Classis of Amsterdam, Acts of Deputies, February 23, 1654, 
in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 322. 

2 Classis of Amsterdam to Megapolensis and Drisius, February 
26, 1654. Ibid. 323. 






J^iv.- ^■^*^.. '' 



';ii" -ui- 



I. M 



W MM' 
W, \i^ '^^f 

m, Mr M,: ^ 



192 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

wives to leave the Dutch Reformed Church and attend 
their conventicles. There was imminent danger, there- 
fore, of a large leakage in the membership of the 
Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam. Thus the 
Lutheran movement "would prove a plan of Satan to 
smother this infant, rising congregation almost in its 
birth, or at least obstruct the march of truth in its pro- 
gress."^ 

The Lutheran issue entered a new phase on the suc- 
cessful termination of Stuyvesant's expedition of con- 
quest, to the South River. Here a commercial colony 
under the authority of a company, composed originally 
of Swedes and Dutch, had become nationalized to the 
exclusion of the latter element.^ As far as religion was 
concerned, this resulted in the establishment of the 
Lutheran Church on the Delaware, where divine service 
was to be " zealously performed according to the Unal- 
tered Augsburg Confession, the Council of Upsala, and 
the ceremonies of the Swedish Church."^ The out- 

^ Remonstrance of Megapolensis and Drisius to Burgomasters 
and Schepens, July 6, 1657, in Eccl Recs. N. Y. i. 387-88. 

2 Cf. Odhner, C. T., The founding of New Sweden, in Pennsyl- 
vania Magazine of History and Biography, iii. 1879. 

3 The position of the Lutheran Church in Sweden is well sum- 
marized in the Church Act of 1686 under King Charles XI, that also 
reflects the conditions obtaining in the earlier period, in question 
here. "In our kingdom and in the countries belonging thereto, all 
persons shall profess solely and simply the Christian doctrine and 
the Christian faith, which is contained in the Holy Word of God, in 
the prophetical and apostolic scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ment, and which is comprehensively stated in the three chief sym- 
bols, the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian, as well as in the 
Unaltered Augsburg Confession of the year 1530, adopted 1593 by 
the Council at Upsala and explained in the entire so-called Book of 
Concord. And all those who assume any office as teachers in the 
churches, academies, gymnasia or schools, shall at their ordination, 
or when they receive a degree under oath solemnly subscribe this 
doctrine and confession." Cf. John Nicum,The Confessional Histoiy 



f.*.^*t.» 



U\ imi «*?r '»€- /-"mL ■;'■*- ^r >- 4 • 



tit; J. 



it >« It 






''M W' ^Wl 
l^-- 'i^t- ,4. ■ 

'it U M. ] 



'< 


■;-^ m- m. h 


?3 


- ;' '^ ^4^ ',W' 




m '?f ^^' 


,?■ 


^ l4i: '^.^^ ""^i 




W^M ^riv 




' i4 "^^' M 




m, \f^ iV?: 




' '^l/"'^ltf' ^J^ 



194 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

assemble for the private exercise of their worship. 
Nevertheless, the proximate occasion for the decree 
against conventicles was not given at Amsterdam but 
at Middelburg (Newtown). The inhabitants of this 
town were mostly Independents, with a few Presbyter- 
ians. The latter could not be supplied with a Presby- 
terian preacher, but a Mr. John Moore, who claimed to 
have been licensed in New England to preach, but not 
authorized to administer the sacraments, attended 
to their spiritual needs. On the departure of Mr. 
Moore, "some inhabitants and unqualified persons 
ventured to hold conventicles and gatherings and 
assumed to teach the Gospel." Other places in New 
Netherland were as destitute of an authorized ministry 
and there was imminent danger in the minds of the 
preachers of New Amsterdam that this bad example 
would find imitation and result in quarrels, confusion 
and disorders in Church and commonalty. On the re- 
ceipt of a petition from the ministers of New Amster- 
dam for his intervention, Stuyvesant expressed his 
decision to have placards issued against those persons, 
who, without either ecclesiastical or secular authority, 
acted as teachers in interpreting and expounding God's 
Holy Word. Stuyvesant also felt that this was a viola- 
tion of the political and ecclesiastical rules of the 
fatherland, and an occasion for an outbreak of heresy 
and schism. Consequently, all such conventicles, both 
public and private, were prohibited by the Director Gen- 
eral and Council under heavy penalties in the ordinance 
of February i, 1656.* Persons presuming to ex- 

1 Recs. of New Amsterdam, i. 20-21; ii. 34-35; Eccl. Recs. 
N. Y. i. 343-4- 



v-'y v-'r^ ex RX? 



.'v*ji'y*W*«P*flj 



i 



^ U H 



la '^rf; 'm 



1, vf?, T^ 'if 



196 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

many other ardent Calvinists of his day, eagerly desired 
the close union of the various national Calvinist 
churches, which had found an early expression in the 
presence of delegates from these churches in the 
National Synod of Dortrecht (1618-19). He, there- 
fore, appealed to the religious service of the 
Reformed Church, conformably to the Synod of 
Dortrecht, practiced in the Fatherland and the other 
Reformed churches of Europe, as the rule which 
was to establish the character of divine worship in his 
province. Thus, even at this time, Stuyvesant was 
ready to grant patents to new colonists, conceived 
along the lines followed by Kieft in his patents to Mes- 
path, March 28, 1642,^ and to Hempstead, November 16, 
1644,^ which assured the colonists the "exercise of the 
Reformed Religion, which they profess with the eccles- 
iastical discipline thereunto belonging." The mind of 
Stuyvesant on this point is clearly manifested later in 
his long correspondence with the Milford inhabitants, 
who intended to found a settlement under his jurisdic- 
tion, with freedom of worship, although they were not 
Presbyterians, as the Dutch, but Congregationalists.' 

Although the ordinance legislated for the repression 
of the freedom of religious worship in conventicles not 
within the pale of the Reformed Church, the Director 
General and Council were careful to include the more 
liberal provisions of the "Articles" that had been pro- 
posed by John de Laet in the name of the West India 

^ Book of Patents GG. p. 49; cited in Riker, Annals of New- 
town, p. 413. 

2 Thompson, History of Long Island, ii. 5-6. 

3 Correspondence from April 29, 1661 to July 20, 1663. Col. 
Docs. N. Y. xiii. 197, et passim. 



.* :4 if 












V"i^ ^c 



198 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ordinance was entrusted to the fiscal and inferior 
magistrates and schouts throughout New Netherland, 
and its presence in some of the town records shows 
the fideUty with which these orders were fulfilled.^ In 
this way, the Director General and Council believed 
that they had made ample provisions for "the glory 
of God, the promotion of the Reformed Religion and 
public peace, harmony, and welfare." 

Although the decree against conventicles did not 
affect the position of the public worship of the Lutheran 
faith in the conquered territory of New Sweden, the 
Lutherans of New Amsterdam understood at once that 
their religious assemblies did come under the prohibitive 
ordinance. They, therefore, discontinued the divine 
services, which they had been holding regularly, in 
private, during the past year.^ The West India Com- 
pany was also under the impression that this decree 
had been directly aimed at the Lutherans. Its Direct- 
ors resented Stuyvesant's methods of repression, which 
were so alien to the spirit of conciliation, with which 
they tried to inspire his policy towards Lutheran dis- 
sent, but, in point of fact, they did not revoke the decree^ 
and expressly conceded only that measure of religious 
liberty, that had already been granted by the Director 
General himself: the free exercise of their religion in 

1 Niemant vermach heimlike of openbare conventiculen of ver- 
gaderinghe houden t'sij int lesen, singen, of prediken op de ver- 
beurte van 100 ponden vlaems, en voor te toehoorders van 
ghelike 25 ponden vlaems bij ijder een, wat Religie of Sec- 
ten het oock mochten sijn volgens den Placcat van den i February 
1656. Corte aenwijsinghe van enighe placcaten over beganene 
uisusenetc. Het Bouk Van Het Durp Utrecht Ao 1657. 

2 Petition of the Lutherans to the Director General and Council 
October 24, 1656, in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 359; and O'Callaghan, His- 
tory of New Netherland, ii. 320. 



m i^L ini 









M- Mm 

"Vtf: '^4.ri lii: 



:M '^4 * 

i^ ^^i^ af 



200 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

its deputies on Indian affairs to wait upon these Direct- 
ors and magistrates of Amsterdam and insist on the 
"injuriousness of the general permission of all sorts of 
persuasions," but they could only learn that the matter 
was still far removed from a settlement. ^ 

Meanwhile, the Lutherans at New Amsterdam had 
received word from fellow-believers in Holland that 
they had obtained a decree from the Directors of the 
West India Company, according to which the Unaltered 
Augsburg Confession was to "be tolerated in the West 
Indies and New Netherland under their jurisdiction in 
the same manner as in the fatherland under its praise- 
worthy government." They, therefore, petitioned^ the 
Director General and Council to allow them again to 
celebrate with prayer, reading and singing, until the 
arrival of a minister of their own persuasion, whom they 
expected to receive from the Fatherland next spring. 
Stuyvesant refused to alter his decree against conven- 
ticles and all public gatherings "except those for the 
divine service of the Reformed Church prevailing 
here," but he again declared that no one was to "suffer 
for this belief, nor be prevented each in his family from 
reading, thanksgiving, and singing according to their 
faith." If there were to be any changes in this legisla- 
tion, they were to be made by the Directors of the Com- 
pany, to whom the petition was finally sent. Thus the 
issue was again presented for settlement at Amsterdam, 
where the Classis instructed its deputies on Indian 
affairs "with all serious arguments ... to check, at the 

^Classis of Amsterdam, Acts of Deputies, vi. 39, i. 360 in Eccl. 
Recs. N. Y. November 7, 1656. 

2 Petition of the Lutherans, October 24, Ibid. i. 656, 359. 



ri <*m '*?L . '^ ■'^ J^- H4^ ''.r '"^i^^ Ta 



/ <«; iift .*t 



^^l- ^^^L /'U , 






[%..,r^-. 



)t M J^l 






202 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

force the consciences of men, and the ministers denied 
that this was the purpose of their intervention. Under 
these circumstances, the Classis, not feeling entirely at 
ease, resolved to encourage "the consistory in New 
Netherland to continue in their good zeal to check these 
evils in every possible way; diligence and labor are 
required to prevent false opinions and foul heresies from 
becoming prejudicial to the pure truth." This is also 
the burden of the letter,^ which the Classis of Amster- 
dam sent the consistory of New Netherland, to intro- 
duce the Rev. Everardus Welius, the first minister to 
the City's colony of New Amstel. 

The departure of a Lutheran minister, John Ernest 
Goed water, for New Netherland in the ship "DeMolen" 
on a mission from the Lutheran consistory was a new 
cause of anxiety to the Classis of Amsterdam. The 
Dutch ministers recognized the inconsistency of the 
concession of freedom of worship to the Swedish 
Lutherans on the South River and of its denial to the 
Dutch Lutherans on the North River at New Amster- 
dam. The Classis, therefore, resolved that the Directors 
were to be urged to correct this abuse in the territory 
of the West India Company and the Burgomasters 
requested to instruct their vice-director Alrichs to 
oppose the Lutherans and other sects in the district 
subject to the authority of the City of Amsterdam.' 
Both promised to be on their guard, and not permit, 
but rather endeavor to prevent the public exercise of 
the Lutheran worship.^ Stuyvesant, nevertheless, faith- 

lEccl.Recs.N. Y. i. 378. 

2 Classis of Amsterdam, Acts of Deputies, May 7, 1657, Ibid 

377- 

^ Acts of Classis of Amsterdam, Ibid. 382. 












M i# ^f- 
"tf 1tf ^M- 

>^ KM 






204 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

enthusiasts.^ The Burgomasters and Schepens imme- 
diately summoned the Lutheran preacher to appear 
before them for examination. He frankly confessed 
that he had been sent by the Lutheran consistory of 
Amsterdam to occupy the position of preacher here, as 
far as it was now permissible, though he felt confident 
that the ship "Waag" would bring the news of the 
concession of freedom of worship, which the Directors 
of the West India Company had under consideration at 
the time of his departure from the fatherland. The 
Burgomasters and Schepens could not believe that the 
Directors would tolerate any other worship than the 
true Reformed in this place, as the oath, which they 
took on the assumption of their ofhce, "to help main- 
tain the true Reformed Religion and to suffer no other 
religion or sects," had received the approval of the 
Directors. They, therefore, forbade the Lutheran min- 
ister to hold either public or private conventicles, and 
also to deliver to the Lutheran body in the city the let- 
ters, that he had brought from the Amsterdam 
consistory, until further orders. Then, as the 
matter concerned not only the city but the 
whole Province, they reported^ these proceedings 
to the Director General and Council, who com- 
mended in every particular their action and or- 
dered the Burgomasters of this city and also all 
inferior courts strictly to enforce the ordinance of 
February i, 1656, against conventicles, as this was 
"necessary for the maintenance and conservation not 

* Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, August 14, 
1657, etc., Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 400. 
2 Ibid. 389. 






m 



'I m^ m 



i. 



M '^^' y^ 

nr. ^iF- 'm ■ 



2o6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

was resolved to persevere with his adherents.^ Stuy- 
vesant became all the more determined in his demand, 
as the order of the Provincial Government had been 
treated with contempt. Goedwater was again com- 
manded, on October i6, 1657, to leave in one of the two 
ships about to sail,^ but he secretly carried off his books 
and bedding,^ and concealed himself in the house of 
Lawrence Noorman, a Lutheran farmer,* to whom the 
Lutherans gave six guilders a week during the whole 
winter for the minister's support.^ The Fiscal was again 
ordered to place him under arrest for transportation to 
Holland at the earliest opportunity. Meanwhile, the 
Lutherans informed the Director General that their 
preacher was sick and requested the privilege of bring- 
ing him to the city for the medical care that he required. 
Stuyvesant granted the petition, but, on the arrival of 
Goedwater, immediately put him under the surveillance 
of the Fiscal, who was empowered to send the Lutheran 
minister to Holland on his recovery. This was done in 
the spring on the ship "De Bruynvisch." The Dutch 
ministers soon had the satisfaction of seeing the leader 
in the separatist movement of the Lutherans a punctual 
attendant at the Reformed service in his pew near the 
pulpit.® Their joy was, however, soon marred by the 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, September 
10, 1659, i^ Eccl. Recs. N.Y. 449. 

2 Director and Council to Goedwater, Ibid. 408. 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, October 
25. 1657, Ibid. 412. 

* Megapolensis and Drisius to Director General and Council, 
August 23, 1658, Ibid. 430. 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, September 
24, 1658, Ibid. 433- 

^ Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, September 
10, 1659, Ibid. 449. The statement of this letter, that Goedwater 



■m'nj. 



1/ itii .ill M.. 

I m- ^4. *^ ' 

U '^fc- ^^i "S. 









l^v' \# r«il- 



'•i^: 'i*^ 'M. 



M '^ 'm 
M w M 



208 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

customs prevailing at the beginning of the Reformation, 
when circumstances also made it imperative for the 
Church to attract people of a different belief.^ The 
Directors, therefore, ordered that the old formula of bap- 
tism, being "more moderate and less objectionable to 
those of other denominations," be used in the churches 
of the Province, and the words "present here in the 
church" be entirely omitted.^ Stuyvesant gave a 
copy of this ordinance to the ministers, as soon as it 
came into his hands, and requested them to draw up 
"a full and correct view of the case."^ 

The ministers declared their willingness to follow 
the example of the apostolic churches, who, though they 
gave freedom for the sake of the weaker brethren in 
minor matters, would not yield one iota to the obsti- 
nate and perverse, who came to spy out the liberty of 
believers and to bring Christians into bondage. They 
knew that the Synod of The Hague in 1 591 (Art. 28) put 
the question, proposed to parents and sponsors in the 
form — "Whether they acknowledge the doctrine con- 
tained in the Old and New Testaments, and in the 
articles of the Christian faith, and taught in conformity 
therewith, to be the true and perfect doctrine of sal- 
vation ? ' ' They were also aware that the Synod of 
Middelburg in 1581 (Art. 21) made the use or omission 
of the clause — " the doctrine taught here" — optional. 
Nevertheless, they did not feel that they could change 
the formula of Baptism that had been used so long in 

^ Directors to Stuyvesant, May 20, 1658, in Col. Docs. N. Y. 
xiv. 418. 

2 Directors to Stuyvesant, June 7, 1658, Ibid. 421. 

3 Director General and Council to ministers of New Amsterdam, 
August 19, 1658, in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 427. 









'WU H 



2IO RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND " 

had prescribed the presence of the parents at the bap- 
tism of their children, these provisions were not strictly 
enforced. This practice had also moved the ministers 
at New Amsterdam to be lenient in regard to this point 
until they noticed that young persons, who could 
hardly carry the child, and who had scarcely more 
knowledge of religion, baptism, and the vows than the 
child itself, presented children for baptism. To 
correct this abuse, the ministers had urged from the 
pulpit that none could so well fulfill the promises made 
in regard to the children at baptism, as the parents, 
who were, in fact, bound to do this by the Word of God.^ 
They, therefore, directed that henceforth no half 
grown youths were to present children for baptism. 

The Ciassis of Amsterdam supported the ministers 
of the colony in their opposition, and begged them not 
to make any alterations in the customary forms, but 
the Directors persisted in their demands,^ and mani- 
fested so much displeasure, that the deputies of the 
Ciassis on Indian affairs delayed addressing them on the 
subject until further correspondence with the brethren 
in New Netherland.' The Directors were not satisfied 
with the fact, that the Lutherans were now again taking 
part in the divine service of the Reformed Church; 
they wished to exclude any possibility of another sep- 
aration, that might arise if they should continue to 

* Megapolensis and Drisius to Director General and Council, 
August 23, 1658, in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 430. 

2 Ciassis of Amsterdam, Acts of Deputies, vi. 134; xix. 53. 
Ibid. i. 440; Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 429. Directors to Stuj^esant, 
February 13, 1659. 

3 Acts of Ciassis of Amsterdam, February 24, 1659, vi. 135; 
xix. 54, in Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 442. 






» ^?t ^^- ,^% i 



- iff M ^^ 










212 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

newly appointed preachers, Blom and Selyns, who, 
before their departure from Holland, had also promised 
the Directors to make use of it in the exercise of their 
clerical office.^ When Megapolensis and Drisius 
learned this, they also resolved to use the old formula, 
prescribed by the Directors, "with the design of avoid- 
ing any division in the churches of this country."^ 
At this time, a feeling of unrest was noticeable among 
some Lutherans at Fort Orange, who began to take up 
a subscription for the salary of a Lutheran preacher, 
but this movement soon subsided.^ Here some Luth- 
erans had already joined the Dutch Church, and others 
were gradually being led to it. The Classis of Amster- 
dam, after consulting the Directors, instructed the Rev- 
erend Gideon Schaats, the minister of Beverwyck at 
Fort Orange, freely to inform those good people, "that 
they may dismiss their newly conceived hopes, since 
they may find abundant edification and comfort of soul 
through the blessing of the Lord in the Reformed wor- 
ship, if they harken diligently and endeavor to walk 
before God and man with a good conscience."* This 
proved the end of the separatist movement of the 
Dutch Lutherans in New Netherland until the termina- 
tion of the Dutch rule. 

^Directors to Stuyvesant, April i6, 1660, in Col. Docs. N. Y. 
xiv. 461. 

2 Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam, October 4, 1660, in Eccl 
Recs.N. Y.i. 486. 

3 Gideon Schaats to Classis of Amsterdam, September 22, 1660, 
Ibid, 483. 

* classis of Amsterdam to Gideon Schaats, December 5, 1661, 
Ibid. 515. 



''? .* M M 



•fli. >«i ,.% i 






Jf W -Ti 



If ^^ .^^ 

■ tie w 






'y.j'' \#' M 



t- 'ml n 
M M ^^^' 



■;^- w ar 



214 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

was about to visit the Province for the thankless use of 
temporal blessings, "permitting and allowing the Spirit 
of Error to scatter its injurious passion amongst us in 
spiritual matters here and there, rising up and propa- 
gating a new unheard of abominable heresy, called 
Quakers, seeking to seduce many, yea were it possible 
even the true believers — all signs of God's just judg- 
ment and certain forerunners of severe punishments."^ 

On August 6, 1657, a ship entered the harbor of 
New Amsterdam, that carried no flag to reveal its charac- 
ter and fired no salute before the fort to announce its ar- 
rival. The Fiscal, who went onboard, received no sign of 
respect, and the Director General was not more favored, 
when he received the visit of the master of the vessel, 
who "stood still with his hat firm on his head, as if a 
goat." Hardly a word could be gleaned in regard to 
conditions in Europe, but finally it was learned that the 
ship had Quakers on board. Although the Quakers 
reported that the Governor was "moderate in words 
and action," they departed the following morning as 
silently as they had come and sailed eastward towards 
Rhode Island, where the Dutch thought that they 
would settle, as the Quakers were not tolerated in any 
other place. However, several Quakers had secretly 
remained behind, and endeavored to disturb and excite 
the people by the testimony, to which they believed 
themselves moved by the Spirit. Two young women ^ 
Dorothy Waugh and May Witherhead," began to quake 
and go into a frenzy" in the middle of the street, crying 
out in a loud voice, that men should repent, for the day 

^ Proclamation, January 21, 1658, in Recs. of New Amsterdam 
ii. 346-7. 



^t 'tfe .!#. :m 






M '^li' af > 

■:.#'•■ '•■.»* '*/!. v 



2l6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Hodgson "pacing the orchard alone in quiet medita- 
tion," He was at once arrested and confined in the 
house of Richard Gildersleeve. While the justice of 
peace went to church, the Quaker attracted a large 
crowd of people before the house, "who staid and heard 
the truth declared." On his return, the magistrate, 
annoyed at being thus outwitted, committed the pris- 
oner to another house and immediately left for Man- 
hattan to inform Stuyvesant of the arrest. The 
Director General commended the zeal of the magistrate 
in suppressing the "Quaker heresy," and sent the Fiscal 
with a guard of twelve musketeers to bring Hodgson 
and those who had entertained him in their homes to 
the Fort in New Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Hodgson, 
had renewed his tactics of the morning. ''In the after- 
noon," he says, "many came to me, and even those that 
had been mine enemies, after they heard the truth, con- 
fessed it." 

On the arrival of the Fiscal and guard, Hodgson was 
searched and his papers and Bible seized. He was then 
bound with cords and remanded to prison. Mean- 
while, diligent search was made "for those two women 
who had entertained the stranger." As soon as they 
were found, they were placed under arrest, although one 
of them was burdened with a nursing infant. The two 
women were placed in a cart, to the tail of which Hodg- 
son was tied and thus dragged through the woods and 
over bad roads, "whereby he was much torn and 
abused." On their arrival at Amsterdam, the women 
were put in prison, but soon after they were again 
released and allowed to return to their homes. Hodg- 
son, however, was cast into a ' ' dungeon full of vermin 









"W vW 1^ 



.. ^-. . v.- -.^^ .J - ^r\ . 



: » ill t, 
I ^l^■ 's? M 

'■^- "'tf ^M' 

I Ik m %■ . 

\l % ^^ . 



2l8 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

was again chained to the wheelbarrow and threatened 
with severer punishment, if he should dare to speak to 
any person. When he refused to keep silent, he was 
confined to his dungeon for several days, "two nights 
and one day and a half of which, without bread and 
water." Then he was taken to a room, where he was 
stripped to his waist and hung to the ceiling by his 
hands with a heavy log tied to his feet, "so that he 
could not turn his body." He was then scourged with 
rods by a negro slave until his flesh was cut into pieces 
after which he was kept in the solitary confinement of 
a loathsome dungeon for two days, when he was again 
made to undergo the same savage torture. Hodgson 
now felt as though he were about to die and asked that 
some English person might be allowed to come to him. 
An English woman was then allowed to bathe his 
wounds. She thought that he could not live until 
morning. When she told her husband of the horrible 
condition of the prisoner, he tried to bribe the Fiscal 
with the offer of a fat ox to obtain permission for Hodg- 
son's removal to his own house until he recovered. 
This was refused and the payment of the whole fine 
demanded. The Quaker would not consent to this and 
was kept "like a slave to hard work." Other persons 
also interested themselves in favor of the Quaker's 
release. An unknown person sent a letter to Stuy- 
vesant and counselled him to send the obstinate Quaker 
to Rhode Island, as his labor was hardly worth the cost . 
When Stuyvesant's sister Anna, widow of Nicholas 
Bayard, interceded earnestly in behalf of the prisoner, 



■m 



rsH- W^ "M^- ^^^ )€ 



*^r^a^-^4«?- ^^t Ml ;^i iMk ,U'l i 



i 'i?' iw ^r 
M Ji^- 1?^ ^^• 

^ ^^ f iw! '^'^^ ■ 

' t H i^?t ii( 
^ -4^ /€ M ; 



iA /*^ ■•«■%-. J%. 

r^. ^# ^% ^ 

i '^it Vff, 3^., 

< «:*_ iiif j*!S> 



2 20 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

their approval and then presented to the Director Gen- 
eral and Council/ A town meeting was assembled in 
the house of Michael Milner, where the clerk read the 
remonstrance to the people of the town. Thirty-one 
signed this protest. They cannot condemn the Quakers 
nor can they stretch out their hands to punish, banish 
or persecute them, when they are bound by the law to 
do good unto all men, especially to those of the house- 
hold of faith. If the alternative is placed before them, 
to choose between God and man, their conscience will 
not allow them to hesitate in the choice, as "that which 
is of God will stand, and that which is of man will come 
to nothing." They further declare that "the law of 
love, peace and liberty in the state, extending to Jews, 
Turks and Egyptians, as they are considered the sons of 
Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Hol- 
land, so love, peace and liberty, extending to all in 
Christ Jesus, condemns hatred, war and bondage." 
The Savior had pronounced woe unto those by whom 
scandal cometh ; their desire ' ' is not to offend one of his 
little ones in whatsoever forme, name or title hee ap- 
peares in, whether Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist 
or Quaker ; but shall be glad to see anything of God in 
any of them ; desiring to do unto all men as wee desire all 
men to do unto us, which is the true law both of Church 
and State." They, therefore, conclude, that, if any 
Quakers should come to them in love, they cannot in 
conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them 
free ingress into their town and houses according to the 

1 Cross-examination of Hart, Col. Docs., N. Y., xiv. 404-405; 
petition of Hart for pardon, January 23, 1658, Ibid. 409. 



( 


M^: m V 


'H 


'm'M 


^ -f 


W; M., j-^ 


•€ 


M m 







1^. '^li '^^ 
(< :># M 



222 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ter." This had been their conclusion of a close study 
of the patent, which they called their charter, and if 
they were in the dark in this matter, they desired to be 
corrected, as they did not know the articles, which the 
Fiscal had called their charter. They also protested 
that they had put into execution to the full extent of 
their powers their ' ' Honners perticular wrting an order 
concerning y^ Quakers." If they were, therefore guilty 
of any offense, it was at most the result of ignorance, 
which they pleaded as the excuse for having signed a 
writing offensive to the Director General and Council, 
presented by Tobias Feake. Their fault was graciously 
forgiven and pardoned on the written acknowledgment 
of their error and promise to be more cautious in the 
future and on condition of paying the cost and mises of 
the law.^ The clerk, Edward Hart, also obtained 
liberal treatment at the hands of the authorities under 
the same conditions. His request for a pardon had 
been supported by several of the inhabitants of Flush- 
ing, where he always had been willing to serve his 
neighbors, whose circumstances he knew thoroughly, 
being one of the oldest inhabitants of the town. Finally, 
the Director General and Council pardoned him, as he 
had drawn up the remonstrance at the instigation of 
the schout, Tobias Feake, and as he had a large family 
dependent upon him for their support. 

Thus all the responsibility was thrown upon the 
schout of Flushing. Tobias Feake could not deny that 
he had received "an order from the Hon. Director Gen- 
eral not to admit, lodge^and entertain in the said village 

1 Col. Docs N. Y. xiv."4o8, 409. 



'ft..M-l^ 






'•tf W ^:§|' 

■ 'iir lii;^ m 
■\r ^rf '4- 



•il, -^M: '^^ 



^ ^ W 'W 
: \li 'iff- "m 



224 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

even dare to attend to the cases pending in the court 
without further orders.* When WilHam Lawrence, 
the oldest magistrate of the town, submitted a petition 
to this effect, it was resolved to suspend the meetings 
of the magistrates until the Director General and Coun- 
cil could personally visit the town or send a committee 
to give the orders, that were required by the conditions 
not only of Flushing, but also of the other neighbor- 
ing English villages. Meanwhile, any extraordinary 
matter, requiring immediate attention, was to be referr- 
ed to the Director General and Council.^ At the time of 
this visit, the inhabitants of Flushing peaceably sub- 
mitted to a modification of their municipal government, 
which Stuyvesant thought would prevent the disorders, 
"arising from town meetings." In the future, the sher- 
iff, who was to be "acquainted not only with the Eng- 
lish and Dutch language, but also with Dutch practical 
law," and the other magistrates were to consult in 
all cases a board "of seven of the most reasonable and 
respectable of the inhabitants, to be called tribunes and 
townsmen." The growth of Quaker influence was 
ascribed to the lack of an organized ministry in the 
English towns, and a tax of twelve stivers per morgen 
was^ imposed upon the inhabitants of Flushing "for 
the [support of an orthodox minister." Six weeks 
were^ granted for the signature of a written submission 
to^the provisions of this new charter. Upon the expira- 
tion of this term, recusants had the only alternative "to 

* January 20, 1658, Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 408. 
2 January 22, 1658, Ibid. 



XL .-,.c/' "-C-. .a 






m M '^. 






226 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

and of being implicated in the Flushing remonstrance. 
The accusation was made that he had gone, in the com- 
pany of the clerk of Flushing, to the house of Edward 
Farrington, whom he had persuaded to sign the remon- 
strance. John Townsend admitted, that he had been 
at Flushing, and visited Farrington as an old acquaint- 
ance, but he denied that he had persuaded the magis- 
trate to sign anything. He was also accused of having 
been in the company of a banished Quakeress at 
Gravesend. Although he also denied this charge, the 
suspicions of the court were not allayed. He was, 
therefore, given the choice either to go to prison, until 
the Fiscal could obtain more evidence on the friendly 
relations of the accused with the Quakers, or to give bail 
to the amount of twelve pounds sterling to ensure his 
appearance at the court on the summons of the Fiscal.^ 
On the same day, judgment was also pronounced in the 
case of John Tilton, formerly town clerk, who had been 
imprisoned on the charge of the Schout of Gravesend,^ 
that he had lodged a Quakeress, who had been banished 
from New Netherland, with some other persons of her 
adherents, belonging to that abominable sect. Tilton 
declared that the Quakeress had come to his house with 
other neighbors during his absence, but, in spite of his 
humble petition and former good conduct, he was fined 
"twelve pounds Flemish with the costs and mises of 
justice, to be applied, one-third in behalf of the Attorney 
General, one- third in behalf of the sheriff of Gravesend, 
and the rest as directed by law."^ The opposition to 

^ Council minute, January lo, 1658. Col. Docs N. Y. xiv. 407. 

2 Council minute, January 8, 1658. Ibid. 406. 

3 Council minute, January 10, 1658. Ibid. 



■' '■■"t '% K 






;■■■ j.».?:-^ if.'\- ■■n.i, 

V«.f: "^i/i :]f.l' 



:'^S .m- ^"^ 



m W luf^ 

•C W /H; 



228 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

sons Inhabiting In this Towne or y^ Limitts thereof 
shall duely resort and repaire to the Publique meetings, 
and Assemblies one the Lords dayes And one the 
Publique dayes of fastings and thanksgivings appointed 
by Publique Authority, both one the forenoones 
And Aftemoones." Persons, who absented them- 
selves "w'thout Just and Necessary Cause approved by 
the particular Court," were to "forfeict, for the first 
offence, five guilders, for yg second Offence, ten guilders 
And for y^ third Offence, twenty Guilders." Those 
who proved refractory, perverse and obstinate, were to 
be "Lyable to the further Censure of the Court, Eyther 
for the Agravation of the fine, or for Corporall punish- 
ment or Banishment." Finally, persons informing 
the magistrates or the particular Court about the 
neglect or contempt of this order, were to be re- 
warded by one-half of the fine, the other half of 
which was to be converted to public use.^ This ordi- 
nance, which had been passed by the General Court of 
Hempstead, September i6, 1650, was approved, ratified 
and confirmed, October 26,1657, by the Director General 
and Council of New Netherland, who authorized the 
magistrates of the village to execute promptly its 
provisions against trespassers. The authentication of 
the copy and its record in the Town books by John 
James, the clerk of Hempstead, bear the date of Janu- 
ary, 16, 1658. These facts show that the approved ordi- 
nance was returned to the town precisely at the time 
that the growth of the Quaker movement on Long Island 
claimed the strict attention of the authorities at New 

> Recs. of Towns of N. and S. Hempstead, Long Island, i. 
56-57- 



'} .% :€ M 
f M M ':M 



229 



-i« 



■ M i4 *4. 
m \^- M !i 



■/ijij'l jSS if#-. 



^ rif ^^ 

I hi m '^y . 

H Ij^ W ^' 

'M '^m m 



230 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

venticle or meeting in the woods, where there were 
two Quakers. The two women refused to admit them- 
selves guilty of any offence, as they had gone out to 
meet the people of God/ The opposition, which was 
early manifested in this way by the magistrates of the 
town towards the Quakers, was the policy pursued with- 
out alteration in Hempstead. When Thomas Terry 
and Samuel Bearing petitioned for leave to settle some 
families at Matinecock within the jurisdiction of Hemp- 
stead, the magistrates of the town drew up a contract, 
dated July 4, 1661, which bound the petitioners to 
observe the laws of Hempstead, to admit only inhabi- 
tants possessing letters of commendation and appro- 
bation from the magistrates, elders or selected towns- 
men of their former place of residence, and finally "to 
bring in no Quakers or any such like opinionists, but 
such as are approved by the inhabitants of Hemp- 
stead." This contract was confirmed and still more 
specified in some details as late as June 23, 1663.^ 

New measures were adopted by Stuyvesant for the 
repression of the Quaker movement on Long Island in 
January, 1661. Letters from Jamaica, Flushing and 
Middelburg (Newton) had informed him, that the 
Quakers had uncommonly free access to the house of 
Henry Townsend, who had, therefore, been placed under 
arrest. A good occasion to investigate the condition 
of religion in the towns known to be infected was 
offered, when some of the inhabitants of Jamaica 
earnestly requested one of the clergymen of New 

^ Court minute, April 18, 1658. Thompson, Hist, of Long 
Island, ii, 12. 

2 Recs. of the Towns of N. and S. Hempstead, i. 143-145; 
Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 528-529. 



^■L. ,; «^. ,^ 'a^ -r ~i-. v>- 



MM J* 



IMMJW 












./■■^•.r^^lgr 



I '-^^ 'm} M I 

m xif- ^W' si 

'a- iW ^M- 

r tfl^- ^?f[ '^ 

if Bt: >^ ■ 

I .-i M. J^ J 



^i£ ^^# W ■■•. 



232 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

any equivocation to the charges of the pubHc prosecutor, 
who demanded that the prisoners be condemned to a fine 
of six hundred florins each, according to the ordinance 
violated.^ Henry Townsend finally acknowledged that 
he had lodged in his house some friends who are called 
Quakers, and that he had assembled a meeting at his 
house, at which one of them spoke, but he concluded 
with the protest, that, although they might squander 
and devour his estate and manacle his person, his soul 
was his God's and his opinions his own. He refused 
to pay the fine of twenty-five pounds to which he was 
sentenced on January 20th, and languished in prison, 
where he was daily supplied with food, which his nine- 
year-old daughter Rose passed to him through the 
gratings of the jail.^ Samuel Spicer was fined only 
twelve pounds. An order was also issued for the 
banishment of John Tilton of Gravesend and John 
Townsend of Jamaica. Mrs. Micah Spicer was also 
prosecuted for entertaining the Quaker, but she was 
acquitted, as she did not know that George Wilson was 
a member of that sect.^ 

Stuyvesant was now determined to enforce the ob- 
servance of the ordinance against private conventicles, 
especially in the village of Jamaica, where the move- 
ment of Quaker dissent was most prevalent at this 
time. Some of those who had been entrusted with 
authority had been so unfaithful to their office as to 

* Council minute, January 9, 1661, Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 491. 

2 Thompson, Hist, of Long Island, ii. 292-3; 295. 

3Cal. of Dutch MSS., ed. O'Callaghan, i. 220-1; Col. Docs. 
N. Y. 1. c, note. Thompson says, "The widow Spicer, mother 
of Samuel, was also arrested, accused and condemned in an amende 
fifteen pounds Flanders." 



jsf .C € M 'ft * -'* r^ '-^ 



^^ :4 i* 



■ tiif 'C ?% ^ 



j ^"^w 'in^ I 
■"¥' '■* ^M'. :: 



f \lt i^ '4, 



234 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

furnished with decent meat and victuals by those who 
still refused to concur in the desires of the government.* 
When these men remonstrated, they were informed that 
the soldiers would be withdrawn, as soon as they would 
sign the pledge to inform against the Quakers. Most of 
the recusants then sold out and removed to Oyster 
Bay beyond the jurisdiction of the Dutch government.^ 

In spite of all vigilance, the magistrates of Jamaica 
had to report, in August of the following year, to the 
Director General, that the majority of the inhabitants 
of the village were adherents of the abominable sect 
called Quakers. They themselves could do nothing to 
stop the increase of this sect, as the townspeople did 
not assemble in forbidden conventicles within their 
jurisdiction, but in a large meeting held every Sunday 
at the house of John Bowne in Flushing, where the 
dissenters gathered from the whole neighborhood.' 
Stuyvesant then ordered all the magistrates and inhabi- 
tants of the English towns in the jurisdiction of New 
Netherland to assist the sheriff. Resolved Waldron, to 
imprison all persons, found in a prohibited or an unlaw- 
ful meeting.^ 

John Bowne^ first visited Flushing on the fifteenth 
of June, 1 65 1, in company with his brother-in-law, Ed- 
ward Farrington. There he was married to Hannah 

^ Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 493 

2 Onderdonck, H., Jr., Amer. Hist. Rec. i, 210. 

3 Council minute, August 24, 1662; Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 515. 
* Council minute, September 9, 1662, Ibid. 516. 

^ For biographical data cf. Mandeville, Flushing Past and 
Present, p. 96, etc.; Thompson, Hist, of Long Island, ii. 285-6; 
388; Watkins, Some Early New York Settlers from New England, 
in N. E. Hist, and Geneol. Reg., Iv. 300 (1901); Henry 
Onderdonck, Jr., Amer. Hist. Rec, i. 8, note i. 49-50 (1872). 






' -4 -^4 ^4 

• I?;- llff ii! {i 

S M M ;^i 
' M: llf .'If 
ft III :iif,. i^ 

: ^a-^ x# ^ti;;-- . 

I M li'! W ^ 
!r^ 'm- M 'iC 

; -lil^ tl|l r^. i 

if "iii^' ^-iL ^iC 

^ '^a' >€' ?4' ; 

ii! M W H. 
1# 'W "'^f^ ''* 



236 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

he decided to leave the prisoner under guard till next 
day. Meanwhile, Resolved Waldron went to the town 
and in the evening returned with the Schout of Flushing. 
Bowne then demanded the order of his arrest from the 
sheriff, who at. first refused, but then handed it to him. 
When John Bowne saw that it was not a special war- 
rant, but the general commission of Stuyvesant, which 
authorized Waldron to arrest any person found in an 
unlawful assembly, he refused to go on foot to New 
Amsterdam in virtue of that order, as the sheriff had 
found him in no assembly of any kind, but the sheriff 
threatened to carry him off bound hand and foot. 
The next day he was transported thither in a boat and 
imprisoned in the courthouse. He attempted to obtain 
a few words with the Director General, whom he saw 
mounting his horse, but Stuyvesant gave the sergeant 
to understand that he would speak with Bowne only on 
the condition, that he would put off his hat and stand 
bareheaded in his presence, which Bowne declared he 
could not do. Stuyvesant anticipated the same refusal 
on the following day, when Bowne was brought for 
trial to the court room. As soon as he heard the 
approach of the prisoner, even before he came into view, 
the Director General bade him to take off his hat, but, 
before John Bowne could refuse, he commanded the 
Schout to give him the necessary assistance to comply 
with the demand. Stuyvesant himself read the ordi- 
nance against conventicles to the prisoner, but Bowne 
denied that he had kept meetings of "heretics, deceivers 
and seducers", as he could not admit the servants of 
the Lord to be such. Stuyvesant refused to argue and 
bluntly asked if he would deny that he had kept con- 



■»f '4 >tf- '4 :^ ,:*t ;'# '^ wJ 









li;- .^ ^^^ :^ 

^ 'ij'' i#' ^'if- '■ 

M- M ^ i 

: V--.,/' '-■■•J. '- .,.ir 



tr iff- ^ni m^ 

M M ^iC ^' 
i- 'iif^- life M 

i M ^c % 

i "M >€' ■■'4- -N 

^if: ■#' f^f- >l 
■,ri' -iif' ^M" jx. 



238 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

and told him that he must remain until the fine was 
paid. The next day official notice of the fine was 
served on the prisoner, but he refused to pay anything 
on that account.^ 

At Gravesend, John Tilton and Mary, his wife, were 
also taken prisoners and transported to New Amsterdam 
to be tried for having attended meetings and for having 
lodged persons of the abominable sect of the Quakers.^ 
Goody Tilton was furthermore charged with "having, 
like a sorceress, gone from door to door to lure even 
young girls to join the Quakers."^ Two days after 
these complaints were made before the court, the 
Director General and Council issued an ordinance which 
interdicted under severe penalties the public exercise 
of any but the Reformed Religion, "either in houses, 
bams, ships or yachts, in the woods or fields, the provi- 
sion of heretics, vagabonds or strollers with accommo- 
dations, and the introduction and distribution of all 
seditious or seducing books, papers or letters." The 
ordinance also required the registration of all persons 
arriving in the province,within six weeks of their advent, 
at the secretary's office, where they were also then to 
take the oath of allegiance. The execution of the 
ordinance was to be ensured by the provision, that all 
magistrates conniving at the violation of this statute 
were to be deposed from their office and declared 
incompetent to hold any public trust in the future.* 
Two weeks after the proclamation of this ordinance, 

1 Journal of John Bowne, Amer. Hist. Rec. i. 4-8 

2 Council minute, September 19, 1662. O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. 
MSS. (Dutch), i.240. 

^Thompson, Hist, for Long Island, ii. 295. 

* O'Callaghan, Hist of New Netherland, ii. 454-5. 



mm 



n\ 



^4' ^^' /^' 



of 



240 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

cause before the court, but Stuyvesant refused to 
grant this request of the prisoner and insisted that he 
either pay the fine or go into exile, but he allowed him 
to go home for a chest and clothes. Later William 
Leveridge was authorized to tell Bowne, that, if he 
would promise to go out of the Dutch jurisdiction 
within three months, he would be set free the next day, 
but John Bowne refused to give any answer to this 
proposition, except to the Director General in person. 
William Leveridge neglected to deliver the message to 
Stuyvesant, who now had the prisoner kept more 
closely than before in his place of confinement. On 
the last day of December, John Bowne was offered the 
liberty to visit, for the first days of the new year, his 
wife and friends, on the condition that he would 
promise to return to New Amsterdam on the evening 
of the third day. The Schout also told him that the 
Director General was still willing to set him free, if he 
would promise to remove with his family out of his 
jurisdiction within a month, but John Bowne refused 
to entertain this profi:er of Stuyvesant. Faithful to 
his promise, Bowne returned to New Amsterdam before 
the expiration of his leave of absence, and then was 
allowed the freedom of the town. He could learn 
nothing of the intentions of the authorities, although his 
chest, clothes, and bedding were still retained in prison. 
When a ship was about to sail, Bowne met Resolved 
Waldron. Upon the enquiries of the Quaker, the Schout 
saw the Director General, and then told Bowne to 
bring his things from prison and to transfer them to 
the boat. John Bowne now succeeded in obtaining an 
interview with Stuyvesant, who was very moderate in 






if' im mi m 

1M^ WM i 












242 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

should fail to deter these sectarians from further 
contempt of authority in Church and State. ^ 

When the Directors at Amsterdam received Stuy- 
vesant's letter, they felt that it was time again to 
restrain the religious zeal of the Director General 
within the limits which they thought would not injure 
the interests of their colony. While they were also 
heartily desirous of seeing the Province free from 
Quakers and other sectarians, their zeal for the re- 
ligious unity of the Province was tempered by the fear 
that a too rigorous policy might diminish the popula- 
tion and stop immigration, which had to be favored at 
this early stage of the development of the colony. 
Stuyvesant was, therefore, told, in the letter' of the 
Directors of April i6, 1663, that he might shut his eyes 
to the presence of dissent in New Netherland, or at 
least that he was not to force the conscience, but to allow 
everyone to have his own belief, as long as he 
behaved quietly and legally, gave no offence to his 
neighbors, and did not oppose the government. The 
Directors referred Stuyvesant to the moderation, prac- 
ticed towards all forms of dissent in the City of Amster- 
dam, which made it the asylum of the persecuted and 
oppressed from every country, with the result of a large 
increase of its population. The same blessing would 
follow an imitation of this policy of moderation in the 
colony of New Netherland. The letter of the Directors 
of the Amsterdam Chamber has generally been inter- 
preted in the light of an edict of toleration extended to 
the Province of New Netherland, with which all per- 

1 O'Callaghan, Hist of New Netherland, ii. 456-7; Brodhead, 
Hist, of New York, i. 706. 

2 Col. Docs. N. Y xiv. 526. 









5-r .^'llf i-^tl - "-ti 

I MM M 



€MMJ 



244 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

erates the command given repeatedly by the Directors 
in previous letters on similar occasions, at least to 
admit freedom of conscience, to allow every inhabitant 
of the Province to have his own belief. A more liberal 
interpretation of the letter also makes the conduct of 
the Directors towards John Bowne unintelligible.^ 

When John Bowne arrived in Amsterdam, he went 
to the West India House and submitted a petition to 
the Directors, which they referred to a special com- 
mittee. The festivities of the season delayed a hearing 
of the case for two weeks, after which Bowne, with a 
companion, William Caton, was summoned to appear 
before the members of this committee, who, at the time, 
were very moderate towards the Quaker, not speaking 
one word in approval of Stuyvesant's persecution. 
Nevertheless, when John Bowne demanded the revoca- 
tion of the sentence of the Provincial Court, the com- 
mittee declared that they had not the power to fulfill 
his request, but that they would refer the matter to the 
Company. New difficulties arose, when John Bowne 
attempted to obtain his personal effects from the ware- 
house of the West India Company. His petition to 
this effect had been granted by the committee, but the 
keeper of the warehouse with his subordinate officials, 
refused to deliver his goods, unless he paid for his pas- 
sage from New Netherland, for which they received 
the approval of the Company. 

Bowne also made an attempt to engage a passage 
back to New Netherland, and the merchant consented 

^ Journal of John Bowne, Amer. Hist. Rec. i. 4-8. The 
Journal substitutes numbers for the names of the month and begins 
the year in March, which is, therefore, the first month of the year 
in Bowne's system of chronology. 






: ?yi W ?€ 1^ 

■ 'M ^.. m 

^nr- W- '■€• :ri 



246 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

justice from the Directors of the Company, but only 
beheld additional oppression. Although his perse- 
cutors had thus mocked at the oppression of the 
oppressed, and added afflictions to the afflicted, he still 
prayed that the Lord would not lay this to their charge, 
but give them eyes to see and hearts to do justice, that 
they may find mercy with the Lord in the day of judg- 
ment. As late as the ninth of June, he complained 
in his letter ^ to his wife, that the Company detained 
his goods and denied him a passage home except on 
conditions, so gross and unreasonable, that he chose to 
suffer want of the dear company of his wife and chil- 
dren, imprisonment of his person, the ruin of his estate in 
his absence there, and the loss of his goods here, rather 
than to yield or consent to such injustice. At length, 
Bowne did become quite free of the Directors, and he tells 
us inhis journal that he again arrived at New Amsterdam 
early in the year 1664. He immediately proceeded to 
his home in Flushing, which was the first house he 
entered in the country. It is said that John Bowne 
again met the old Governor after the establishment of 
the English rule, as a private citizen, who then seemed 
ashamed of what he had done, and glad to see the 
Quaker safe home again. ^ 

^ Letter printed in full in Thompson, Hist, of Long Island, ii. 
386-7. 

2 Basse, Sufferings of the Quakers, ii. 237, Besse's account, 
of the Bowne case is inaccurate. 



■■i - 






I 



M M.. 



Si 4 ^# ^^ 
ibf ^.ff M' % 



..-,;.'■ 'IV,., iy. ";V ..x,-. iV_ 

■ M ^^" ^.. 

i^ i?| i4 



IW; it '^r* 



-vv MM. 

\ifi[ U- W[ ■ 
!0 M 1i^ ^' 



248 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Brazil, who, with the zealous support of the Classis of 
Amsterdam, had forced the civil authorities, in 1638, to 
forbid the free exercise of the Jewish religion in public, 
that had been guaranteed them on the conquest of the 
country by the Dutch. ^ 

Stuyvesant's opposition to the Jews was not 
prompted merely by inborn prejudice. It was doubt- 
lessly influenced by his unfortunate experience with 
the Jewish colony, established in 1652 on the island of 
Curagoa, which, with the adjoining islands of Aruba and 
Bonaire, was subject to his authority under a vice- 
director. The Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber 
had entertained the thought of abandoning the island 
of Curagoa, which yielded no satisfactory revenue,* 
when a new opportunity to develop the resources of the 
island was presented in its colonization with Jews. 
Jan de Ulan, a Jew, was made a patroon of a colony on 
making known to the Directors of the Amsterdam 
Chamber his intention to transport a good number of 
colonists of his own nation there to settle and cultivate 
the land. Although the Directors suspected that he 
and his associates were planning to trade from Curagoa 
to the West Indies and the Main, they were willing to 
make the experiment and time would show whether 
they could succeed with this nation, characterized by 
them as "crafty and generally treacherous."' Stuy- 
vesant, far from being hostile to this enterprise, ex- 

1 Netscher, Les Hollandais au Bresil, 94-95; for the action of 
the Classis of Amsterdam, cf. Eccl. Recs. N.Y. i. 196; 204; 206. In 
both reference is also made to the persecution suffered by Catholics. 

2 Directors to Stuyvesant, March 21, 1651. Col. Docs. N. Y. 
xiv. 135. 

'Directors to Stuvyesant, April 4, 1652, Ibid. 172; also letter 
cited above. 



MJ 



\ '.m s^i ^'si^ 



'f MM ' 






: -f ;< ^C i 

^^ '"0 m %^ 
^1^ Tit M J: 



250 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Christian worship or giving any offense to the Christian 
conscience/ 

In spite of these liberal conditions of their charter, 
the Jewish colony proved rather detrimental than profit- 
able to the Company, which had been deceived both 
in regard to the resources of the projectors of this 
Jewish colonization and also in regard to the inten- 
tions of the patroon himself and his associates. Jan 
de Ulan was deep in debt for the horses furnished him 
by the Company for his colony, where there was nothing 
which might be seized as security for its payment. The 
Directors also then learned that his partners in Holland 
possessed nothing. The Company owed him about 
3,000 guilders for flour and clothing, which he had 
delivered to its servants, but even after the deduction 

Faith: "The Company shall appoint in the aforesaid Colony a 
Schout for the maintenance of Justice and Police, provided the 
state of the colony be such as shall justify the appointment of a 
Governing Council, in which case the patroon or patroons shall 
nominate two of the most able persons living in the Colony being 
Dutch Christians of the Reformed Religion, through whom the 
Schout, as representative of the Company, raay have supreme con- 
trol in the country." This charter was modelled on the privileges 
granted the year previous by the Zealand Chamber to the people 
of the Hebrew Nation that had gone to the Wild Coast. The Eger- 
ton MSS. No. 2395, Fol. 46 in the British Museum, discovered by Mr. 
Lucien Wolfe of London, has been rightly identified by Oppenheim 
as a translation of the grant of the Zealand Chamber to the Jews, 
which was sent by some agent, probably to Thurloe. It is men- 
tioned by Charles Longland in his letter from Leghorn to Crom- 
well's secretary, John Thurloe. Cf. An Early Jewish Colony in 
Western Guiana. Supplemental data, by Samuel Oppenheim. 
Pubs. Amer. Jewish Hist. Soc, No. 17, p. 54. Pubs. Amer. 
Jewish Hist. Soc, No. 16; Oppenheim, Early Jewish Colony in 
Western Guiana. (The appendix contains important documents.) 
Cf. also Report of U. S. Commission on Venezuela-British Guiana 
Boundary. 

1 Cone, G. Herbert, The Jews in Curagoa, Pubs. Amer. Jewish 
Hist. Soc, No 10, pp. 148; Van der Kemp, Ms. Translation, Dutch 
Recs. N. Y. viii. 34; O'Callaghan, Cal. N. Y. Hist. MSS. (Dutch), 
i. 329. 






M -'€ )€ 



■^ "'Mi- af H 
' iff m- jU' 



252 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

at an exorbitant price. They were selling old curtains 
and other shreds at three times the price for which 
they might have been obtained in Holland. Jan de 
Illan in fact had asked the vice-director to credit the 
Indian chief with one hundred and fifty R. Dall., 
which he claimed to have delivered him in goods. On 
enquiry , it was learned that the value of the goods 
delivered would not exceed the sum of fl.25.17 in the 
fatherland. This was merely an example of a practise 
common among the Jews. However, the vice-director 
hoped to put a stop to such extortion, as Jan de Illan 
would lose the privileges of his patroonship because of 
his failure to fulfil its stipulations, which amongst other 
things bound him to have fifty settlers in his colony 
within four years. There were then not more than ten or 
twelve, and these wished to leave him and become 
planters under the direct jurisdiction of the Company.^ 
When the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber received 
a report of the conditions existing in the Jewish colony, 
they decided to furnish the vice-director goods, with 
which he might be able to supply the colonists at a 
reasonable price and thus put an end to the extortion 
of the Jews. However, they refused to permit the 
colonists to leave the settlement of Jan de Illan until 
the expiration of the time of their service, when they 
would be free to go.^ Two years later the vice-direc- 
tor Beck wrote Stuyvesant that three or four Jews 
solicited permission to leave the island, to which he 
readily consented, as their presence was more injurious 

^ Vice-Director Rodenburch to Directors, April 2, 1654 
Van der Kemp, 1. c, viii. 107, in Cone, 1. c, 152. 

2 Directors to Vice-Director Rodenburch, July 7, 1654, Van 
der Kemp, 1. c, viii. cited in Cone, 1. c, 152-3. 






^%, v%_ 






m H i€ 



:s*1,i I'^t: *?li , 

Trf- IM Iff ■ ^ 

J- lif M 'f 



■i- Mr ^^ /^ 

' M M 3* ,! 

■ ! ^€- ;# .^*|. 

..f III: M ^' 

|. 5C M: M 
J M. ill ^^ 
i \.€. -^aff li,^ 



254 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

expiration of this time, de la Motthe was authorized, in 
case of non-payment within four days, to have the 
goods of the two greatest debtors, Abraham Israel and 
Judicq de Mereda, sold at public auction, and if the sum 
thus realized proved insufficient, he was further- 
more authorized to proceed in like manner with the 
other Jewish passengers until the full acquittance of 
the debt.* When the sale of these goods still left a 
balance, the Court, at the request of the master of the 
vessel, placed under civil arrest two Jews as principals, 
David Israel and Moses Ambrosius, who were held 
for the payment of the balance.^ The sailors now 
brought a suit against Asser Levy, from whom they 
demanded the payment of fl.io6 still remaining due, 
but the Court upheld its previous decision, that the 
two Jews, who had been taken as principals, were to be 
held for the payment of the balance. Asser Levy had 
made the plea that he was no longer bound to pay, as he 
had offered to do so on the condition that his goods 
should not be sold.^ This plea did not save him from 
condemnation, when Rycke Nounes tried to recover 
fl.105.18 from Asser Levy, as her goods had been sold 
by auction to pay his freight over and above her own 
debt.* The Court ordered him to satisfy her claims 
within fourteen days. When the sailors promised to 
wait for the payment of the balance of the freight of 
the Jews until the arrival of ships from the fatherland, 

^ Court minutes, September 10, 1654, Recs. New Amsterdam, 
i. 241. 

2 Court minutes, September 16, 1654. Ibid. 244. 

* Court minutes, October 5, 1654. Ibid. 349. 

* Court minutes, October 19, 1654. Ibid. 254. 



'Mf- ''•#'■■ '-'mi' -I 



,1. . ,,, .V.,- jy 



« '^*^' 'Mk %M. 



I* ..^^..j''-.^-^^}^^ 





il 


:■ Mli.' iff:- 


■n 



256 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

and passports to the Portuguese Jews to travel and to 
go to reside in New Netherland." The Jewish mer- 
chants of Amsterdam protested against this injury to 
their nation, which would also turn out to the disad- 
vantage of the Company itself. The Jews, who in 
Brazil had risked their possessions and their blood in 
the defense of the country, were now dispersed here 
and there in great poverty and could only retrieve their 
shattered fortunes in some Dutch colony under the 
protection of the Company, as opportunities were not 
sufficient for all in Holland, and they could not go to 
Spain or Portugal on account of the Inquisition. There 
were powerful reasons urged in favor of a Jewish immi- 
gration to New Netherland by these Portuguese mer- 
chants. A Jewish immigration to New Netherland 
would increase the number of loyal subjects in the 
colony and result in an increase of its revenues. Then 
there were many Jews amongst the principal share- 
holders of the West India Company, who had always 
worked for its best interests and had even lost immense 
sums of money in its shares and obligations. The plea 
was successful, although the Directors confessed to 
Stuyvesant their desire to fulfill his request.^ Formal 
permission was now given to the Jews to travel, reside 
and traffic in New Netherland, "provided they shall 
not become a charge upon the deaconry or the Com- 
pany."^ The following spring began the new immi- 

1 Directors to Stuyvesant, April 26, 1655. Col. Docs. N. Y. 
xiv. 315; Petition of the Jewish Nation, January 1655, MS. in 
the Library of the Hist. Soc. of Pa., printed by Oppenheim, Early 
Hist of the Jews in New York, pp. 9-13. 

2 This was done on February 22, 1655. Cf. Council minutes, 
March 14,1656, vi, 321. 0'Callaghan,Cal. Hist. MSS. (Dutch), i. 162, 
Directors to Stuyvesant, June 14, 1656. Col. Docs. N. Y. xiv. 



1 J^C '*?t- /««£■ 

'If '4' fit '^ 



:, 'm ^m *^^ . 



^ ;i:; m l-v 
Ii '^^ "* M. 

I? -^^ # >c 



258 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

in the spring of this year, were to prepare to leave at 
once. When the Burgomasters and Schepens took 
cognizance of this resolution, they had no objection to 
urge, but decided that the resolution "should take its 
course." They had just begun the trial of a Jew, 
Abraham de Lucena, charged with the double offense 
of keeping open his store during the sermon and selling 
by retail, for which the Schout of the City demanded 
the Jew to be deprived of his trade and condemned to a 
fine of six hundred guilders.^ The Directors foresaw 
the same difficulties from Jewish residents in New 
Netherland as Stuyvesant did, and "would have liked to 
effectuate and fulfill" his wishes, but they felt unable to 
approve his pohcy in this respect, which they con- 
sidered somewhat unreasonable and unfair, as the Jews 
had suffered considerable loss from the reconquest of 
Brazil by the Portuguese, and as they also still had 
large sums of money invested in the shares of the West 
India Company, of which it stood sorely in need in its 
present bankrupt condition.^ They were, therefore, 
determined to regulate their conduct towards the Jews 
in New Netherland according to the concessions made 
by the Company on February 22, 1655, "provided the 
poor among them shall not become a burden to the 
Company or the community, but be supported by their 
own Nation." 

The Jews now endeavored to obtain several conces- 
sions from the provincial government . On July 2 7 , 1655, 

^ Recs. of New Amsterdam, i. 290-291. 

2 Directors to Stuyvesant, April 26, 1655. Col Docs. N. Y. 
xiv. 315. Revised version in Oppenheim, Early Hist, of Jews 
in New York, p. 8. Manasseh Ben Israel in his Humble Address 
to Cromwell: "The Jews were enjoying a good part of the (Dutch) 
East and West India Companies." 



m Ht i% .♦^c ,^'k::''^-.r^.4^''^.r^^ 

f % y^'if-m- 'tf '^^ /«i M ^ 

:^m M' M. i* j*-^«w^1 



'.ifr m m ^ 



■\« M K- 1 

;i: m; ;* M. 



j4# i^'^W t 

I'' ^^li af M: 

i ''*^ >t )4 

:l^ %^i6'. -Wf: l^iff 



26o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

council of the citizens was authorized to carry into 
effect this legislation and to collect the tax once every 
month and, in case of refusal, to institute legal process 
for its payment/ Jacob Barsimson and Asser Levy 
then petitioned for leave to stand guard like other 
Burghers of New Amsterdam or to be relieved from the 
tax paid by the Jews, as "they must earn their living by 
manual labor." "The Director General and Council 
persist in the resolution passed, yet as the petitioners 
are of opinion that the result of this will be injurious to 
them, consent is hereby given to them to depart when- 
ever and whither it pleases them."^ A little later the 
Jewish merchants submitted a petition for permission 
to travel and trade on the South River, at Fort Orange 
and other places, situated within the jurisdiction of the 
Dutch government of New Netherland, in accordance 
with the concessions, that they had received from the 
West India Company in Amsterdam. The council 
adopted the suggestion of Cornelius van Tienhoven, 
who was of the opinion, that the concession of trading 
privileges on the South River and at Fort Orange to 
the Jews would be very injurious to the population 
residing in these districts. He, therefore, advised that 
the petition be denied for the coming winter and that a 
full report of the matter be submitted to the Directors 
in the fatherland. Meanwhile, these Jewish merchants 
were allowed to dispatch one or two persons to the 
South River to dispose of the goods that they had sent 
there, without thereby establishing a precedent, to 

^ Council minute, August 28, 1655. Col. Docs. N. Y. xii. 96. 

2 Council minute, Novemlaer 5, 1655, O'Callaghan, Cal. 
Hist. MSS. N. Y. (Dutch) i. 155. N. Y. Col. MSS. vi. 147. in 
Oppenheim, Early Hist, of Jews in New York. 



'-'**£ ■?# 'M- n 






M . 



/'Iff Isii liif- ' 

If: M: ;€ ;€ 
^^: '^^ « m. 

■ w, l^fr "m \ 

Ui ^¥' If M; 

: ''a!: ^ 1^ -v 



262 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

A few months previous to this, Abraham de Lucena, 
Jacob Cohen Henricus, Salvador D'Andrada, Joseph 
D'Acosta and David Frera had requested the same 
rights in matters of trade and in the acquisition of real 
estate as the other citizens of the province on the plea 
that these privileges were included in the grant received 
from the Company and that they and their co-religion- 
ists were assessed the same as other citizens/ One of 
these Jews, Salvador D'Andrada, had purchased a house 
in New Amsterdam at a public auction, but the sale 
was cancelled on the contention that the Jews were 
not allowed to hold real estate.^ The authorities of 
New Netherland refused to grant the requested right 
of property to the Jews and awaited further instruc- 
tions from Holland.^ Although the Directors did 
order Stuyvesant to give the Jews the rights of trade 
and property, they did not give them full civil liberty, 
inasmuch as the Jews were not allowed to exercise 
any handicraft which they were prohibited to do in 
Amsterdam, and were not allowed to have open retail 
shops. Meanwhile, the religious privileges granted the 
Jews were not greater nor less than those granted to 
other forms of dissent in the Colony. They were 
allowed to exercise in all tranquillity their religion in 
their houses, which were, therefore, to be built ''close 

1 Council minute, March 14, 1656. O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. MSS. 
(Dutch) i. 162. 

2 Council minutes, December 17, 1655; December 23, 1655; 
January 15, 1656; March 14, 1656, O'Callaghan, Ibid. pp. 156, 
157, 162. 

3 "Ambachten op te stellen" wrongly translated by Berthold 
Fernow as shall not "be employed in any public service." 
O'Callaghan, Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland, N. Y. 
p. 194, rightly translates "to exercise any handicraft, " and 
also Oppenheim, Early Hist, of Jews in New York, p. 35, "to estab- 
ish themselves as mechanics." 



1 M f^ -^'^-/^^;^r^fi-^%€^'^ 



r ^M& 'Ht 'M:^ 



f M Kf ./€ 

M l^ % n 

if >4^: ;'C Mf, 






264 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

permission "to bake and sell bread within the city as 
other bakers, but with closed door," he was informed 
that the request was directly contrary to the privileges 
of the Burghery of this City and to the orders of the 
Directors of the Company/ The Jews now realized 
the necessity of obtaining the Burgher right to enable 
them to continue in business, Asser Levy appeared 
before the Court of the Burgomasters and Schepens and 
requested to be admitted a Burgher. The request was 
refused and the petitioner referred to the Director 
General and Council,^ to whom the Jews Salvador 
D'Andrada, Jacob Cohen Henricus, Abraham de Lucena 
and Joseph D'Acosta now appealed. They established 
their right to be admitted to citizenship on the grounds, 
that this privilege had been guaranteed them in the 
concessions of the Company, that the Jews possessed 
the right of citizenship in the City of Amsterdam, where 
certificates of citizenship were issued to them, and 
finally that the Jews, from the beginning of their resi- 
dence in the Province of New Netherland, had borne 
their share with others in every burden of the citizens 
and continued to do so even then.^ The appeal was 
successful. The Burgomasters of the city were author- 
ized and commanded to admit the remonstrants with 
their Nation among the citizens of New Netherland. 
Stuyvesant evidently no longer dared to antagonize the 
Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber who were favor- 
able to the Jews. Although he still called the Jews 

* Court minute, April 11, 1657. Recs. of New Amsterdam, 
vii. 154. 

2 Ibid. 

^ Council minute, April 20, 1657. Van der Kemp, Translations 
of Dutch MSS. viii. 531. Revised Translation, in Oppenheim, 
Early Hist, of Jews, p. 36. 



265 



• J.TvT.}- II .rs£ <-^l 



^ W ^^ M: 



^€- i^:: Si€ !' 



CHAPTER IX 
Indian Missions in New Netherland 

I. — MISSIONARY LABORS OF THE DUTCH 

The conversion of the American Indian usually 
received at least some mention in the colonial projects 
formed by Europeans in the seventeenth century. 
Usselinx, in his plan for the organization of the West 
India Company, used the missionary opportunities 
offered in America as an argument to further the project. 
"In the course of time the saving faith and gospel of 
Jesus Christ might be planted there, whereby the 
heathen would be rescued from the darkness of idola- 
try."^ The plans of William Usselinx were rejected 
and the charter finally drawn up for the West India 
Company made no mention of any design to convert 
the Indians. However, the first Minister of the Pro- 
vince of New Netherland, Jonas Michaelius, on his 
arrival in 1628, gave some thought to this matter, but 
the difficulties of the task so impressed him, that no 
results were attained during his ministry. He 
found the natives "entirely savage and wild, proficient 
in all wickedness and godlesness, thievish, treacherous* 

^ O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Netherland. i. 31 ; Brodhead. Hist, 
of State of New York. i. 23. 

(266) 



'■iff '# f# '^ 

.*^J^.j, ^i.,^?■•'^,..r 






ji- ill m y 
JJ«M If 

u n W, v^ 

.I- Jif ^if ^t 

iridic M 

\^f '^^' '^■^ i^ 
,l,lf, *;?|- ill^ :;e! 

r M: H M 

^: '^.^ "^% '^ii; 

' ^^i# af vrf; .. 
.1^ if^-. M ^^ 

:§ M ^^ ^^ 



268 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

the Company did not direct its efforts to the coloniza- 
tion of the province. On the estabHshment of the 
patroonships, the Company was even accused of trying 
to paralyse the efforts of the patroons to populate their 
colonies by its attempts to minimize the Freedoms and 
Exemptions granted in the charter of 1629. Kiliaen 
van Rensselaer in 1633 submitted a protest to the 
Assembly of the XIX and petitioned the deputies of 
the States General on this board for an extension of 
privileges, by which would be promoted "above all 
things the diffusion of the Christian Reformed Religion 
in those regions."^ He felt that this ought to bring 
God's blessing on his undertaking.^ In 1640, he in- 
structed Arent van Curler to seize the opportunity, 
offered by the presentation of some gifts to several 
Indian chiefs from the patroon, to acquaint them with 
God, "who each day lets his bountiful gifts come to man 
through the fruitfulness, which he gives to the products 
of the earth and to man's sinful body."^ Two years 
later, at the instance of the patroon, John Megapolensis 
was called by the Classis of Amsterdam to "perform 
the duty of the Gospel to the advancement of God's 
Holy Name and the conversion of many poor blind 
men" in the colony.^ For the patroon did not merely 
look "to the profits of his investment, but had in 
especial view, by means of the settling of the country 
and the practice of godliness, to have the Christian 

^Memorial. November 25, 1633. Van Rensselaer Bowier 
MSS. p. 249. 

2 Letter of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer to Planck, April 24, 1635. 
Ibid. p. 314. 

8 Letter. July 2, 1641. Ibid. 508-9. 

* Commission of Megapolensis from Classis, March 22, 1642. 
Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 149. 






^% ^^ M ., 



'f M m % 

ill- >l| 14 J 



.r 'm w ''■' 



? m 



f: M ■% '"M; 

w '\^- ~^i -^^ 

''' W 1u^ M 



270 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

New Netherland had come to these EngHsh from the 
Indians, and the Dutch, who "Hved so barbarously in 
these respects and without punishment," were severely 
and angrily censured by their Puritan neighbors.^ This 
evil had also become so bad in Rensselaerswyck 
that the patroon found it necessary to promulgate a 
placard against the sinful intercourse between the 
Dutch and the heathen women and girls. The first 
offense was punished by a fine of twenty-five guilders, 
which was increased to fifty guilders, if the woman 
became pregnant, and to one hundred guilders, if the 
woman gave birth to a child. ^ Habitual illicit inter- 
course entailed a yearly fine of fifty guilders and, "accord- 
ing to the circumstances," banishment from the colony. 
One third of the fines was to go to the officer, one- 
third to the commander at Rensselaers-Steyn, and the 
remainder to the patroon himself for the building of 
the church.^ The execution of this placard must have 
been somewhat neglected, as the new minister, some- 
time after his arrival in the colony, stated that the 
"Dutchmen run . . . very much" after the Indian 

1 Letter of De Rasieres, 1627. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. 
ii. (1849) p. 352. Narratives of New Netherlands, ed. Jameson, 
p. 112. 

2 It is hard to see how the increase of the fine in these last two 
instances would not have led to race-suicide, if the ordinance could 
have been enforced. Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer intimates that 
this was the case. "The Dutch Records assert that, especially in 
the early days of traffic and incipient colonization, many traders 
lived with Indian women, yet they mention few half-breeds, and 
no visible tinge of dark blood survived in the veins of the New 
Netherlanders." Hist, of the City of New York. i. 56. 

^ Redress of the abuses and faults in the colony of Rensselaers- 
wyck. September 5, 1643. Van Rensselaer Bowier MSS. p. 694. 
Cf . Letters of Kiliaen van Rensselaer to Johannes Megapolensis. 
March 13, 1643 and to Arent van Curler. May 13, 1639. Ibid. 442; 
645-46. 



■■M '4 # '^ 



.r w^ ^tf iMi 

J^-. w tlf ^-' 



i^: W * "^^ 

" '^lif^ >i^:^ jtf; 



272 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

"to receive a water of great importance which effaces 
all stains and impurities from our soul." The Iroquois 
immediately exclaimed, "Ah! the Dutch have often 
given me of that water of importance ; I drank so much 
of it as to be so drunk, that they had to bind my feet 
and hands, lest I should do harm to some one."^ The 
outbreak of hostilities on the part of the Indians was 
precisely often the baneful result of the sale of liquor 
to the savages by the Dutch, who, through this and 
through the trade in firearms, often sought to acquire 
wealth without labor. 

On the organization of the church after the arrival 
of the new minister in Rensselaerswyck, divine service 
awakened some curiosity among the Indians, and ten 
or twelve of their number attended it with long tobacco 
pipes in their mouths. They could not understand 
why the minister talked so much, while no one else 
in the congregation had a word to say. When they 
were informed later by the minister, that he told the 
Christians not to steal, or drink or commit adultery, or 
murder, and that they also ought not to be guilty of 
these crimes, the Indians only replied: "Why do so 
many Christians do these things?"^ Although Megapo- 
lensis, on this occasion, promised the Indians to come 
to their country to teach them, when he understood 
their language better, the Dutch Reformed Church of 
New Netherland could only produce one Indian con- 
vert, who was "firm in his religious profession."^ Indian 

^Jesuit Rel. xxix. 152. 

2 Megapolensis. Tract on the Mohawks. Narratives of New 
Netherland, p. 178. 

^ Van der Donck. A Description of New Netherland. N. Y. 
Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. vol. i. 214. 



& ■^- -.siC '-ii 






w m *i '» 



" W M '* 

V- t|| ^0:. ilf; 

M^ ;^ M' '^ 

r M: ■■# >i| , 

i '# 4fe ^tf 

^" '^i;' lit '^tf ., 
\l^ M 1^ JiS 

^ %^i. ^'^^c ^iM \ 



274 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

they are subdued by the numbers and power of our 
people, and reduced to some sort of civilization, and 
also unless our people set them a better example than 
they have done heretofore."^ Van der Donck, the 
only lawyer in the province of New Netherland, also 
saw no hope of the conversion of the savages under the 
conditions obtaining in the country. He 'advocated 
the establishment of good schools in convenient places 
for the instruction of the children, as the Indians 
themselves declared that they were "very desirous to 
have their children instructed in our language and 
religion."^ However, this could not be done without 
some trouble and expense to the government. In 
fact, the commonalty of New Netherland in the remon- 
strance, which it addressed to the States General on 
July 28, 1649, ^^^ urged the conversion of the heathen, 
and the remonstrance received this favorable comment 
in that assembly: "The English and French have, 
each in their way, already done their duty in this regard. 
Nevertheless, we are older than they in that country, 
and, therefore, ought also begin. Praestat sero quam 
nunquam."^ The patroon of Rensselaerswyck bound 
his new minister the Reverend Gideon Schaets "to use 
all Christian zeal there to bring up both the heathen and 
their children in the Christian religion" and promised 
to indemnify him "in case his Reverence should take 
any of the heathen children there to board and edu- 

* Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam . August 5 , 
1657. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 398-99. 

^ Van der Donck. o. c. N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2d Ser.i.pp. 214-215. 

^ Additional Observations on the Petition of the Commonalty of 
New Netherland to the States General, preceding the Remon- 
strance of July 28, 1649. Col. Docs. N. Y. i. 270. 



IM- imi W§i Vi; 

J'- 'mm ic 

W-- M 'M- '^ 



M. in.. 



, '# m^^ j4|f , 



276 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

II. THE DUTCH AND THE JESUIT MISSIONS AMONG 

THE IROQUOIS 

While the Dutch failed to take an active interest in 
the conversion of the savages within the province, they 
used their influence with their Indian allies to obtain 
the liberation of the Jesuit missionaries, who fell into 
the hands of these inveterate enemies of the French. 
In 1642, the Mohawks during a raid into French ter- 
ritory intercepted an expedition of Hurons, mostly 
Christians, accompanied by Father Jogues and two lay 
assistants Rene Goupil and William Couture, with sup- 
plies for the distant mission of Ste. Marie. During the 
long journey to the Mohawk country, the Christian 
prisoners suffered the painful tortures and mutilations 
which savage cruelty suggested. On their arrival, 
Father Jogues sent word of their capture to the Dutch.* 
Soon after this, Crol, the commandant of Fort Orange, 
received an order from the Director General of the 
province, William Kieft, to effect the ransom of these 
prisoners,^ but the Indians were not willing to accept 
any ransom. On the eighth of September, Arent van 
Curler, the commissary of Rensselaerswyck, who had 
gone into the Mohawk country with Labbadie and 
Jacob Jansen, assembled all the chiefs of the three 
castles and proposed the release of the Frenchmen. 
The Indians professed all friendship for their Dutch 
allies, but refused to discuss this question on the plea 
that the French burned the Mohawks, who fell into 

^ Letter. January 14, 1644, of Bartholomew Vimont, with 
details obtained from Father Jogues. Jes. Rel. xxv. 71. 

2 Letter. September 11, 1642 of Kieft to Kiliaen van Rensse- 
laer. Van Rensselaer Bowier MSS. p. 625. 



"4. , ,^^~- 'V-.,,*,- '^V-^T" r'-fc?" ; j^- ■x,''^>, i^'ii f|i-J8 V'^ 

|%ryi^"ii|^ M M' M M. 



■•ife :^ i€ ;S 

tit '^ .!ft-.'^^ 






ivMM, ft . 



;■ .tip ^^^ /€ 

I U H M- 

^ M ■* '^^^ 
: W ■#■ >i: 



278 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

and confirmed by the teaching of the Dutch, from whom 
the Indians had learned that the sign of the cross was a 
"veritable superstition," equally hateful to their 
European neighbors.^ When the old Indian witnessed 
the action of Rene Goupil, he ordered a young man of 
his cabin, about to leave for the war, to kill the Chris- 
tian sorcerer, as the sign of the cross would cause some 
harm to the child. The execution of the command was 
not long delayed. One day Rene Goupil and Father 
Jogues had withdrawn outside the village to perform 
their devotions with greater liberty. Their prayers 
were soon interrupted by two young men, who com- 
manded them to return, but, at the entrance to the 
village, one of them drew a hatchet and struck down 
Rene Goupil, who fell half dead, invoking the Holy 
Name of Jesus. Jogues expected the same fate, but 
the Indian, after making sure of the death of his victim, 
told the Jesuit that his life was in the hands of another 
family. Somewhat later Jogues was called to eat in 
the cabin of the old Indian. When the Jesuit made the 
sign of the cross before the meal, the old man said to 

^ Letter of Father Bressani from Isle de RhS, Nov. 16, 1644. Jes. 
Rels. xxxix. 85-87. 

"Our Faith is accused of killing all who profess it . . they also 
accused the Faith of the French of being responsible for all the ills 
with which the whole people or individual persons seem to be 
afflicted. That is what an Apostate tried to make those Barbarians 
believe, naming the Dutch as his authority for what he said. He 
asserted that the children of the Iroquois died two years after their 
Baptism, and that the Christians either fractured their legs or 
wounded their feet with thorns or became consumptive, or vomited 
their souls with their blood, or were assailed by some great mis- 
fortune." Preaching of the Faith to the Cayugas by Chau- 
monot and Menard. Relation. 1656-57. Jes. Rels. xliii. 313-315. 

"The Dutch, they (some Huron apostates) say, have preserved 
the Iroquois by allowing them to live in their own fashion, just as 
the black Gowns have ruined the Hurons by preaching the faith to 
them." Jes. Rels. xliv. 291. 



l^jr ■-^>.-•#■ 






i.^'l- s'.«t ''■s*^ -"> 



;^ W M ^*' ^' 
m M '"^^ ^*^ 

i« ;< i-^ . M 

\i|: 'i^' "^ '^ 
^ '^^ « H. > 

: '^^ If ¥: .^ 
^, il^ tf> ^'.^ 



28o RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

dition against Fort Richelieu. A Huron Indian, 
adopted by the Iroquois, previous to his departure, had 
demanded a letter from Jogues, who hastened to take 
the opportunity to inform the French governor of the 
plot in spite of the risk of his life. Thus the Iroquois 
were incensed against the Jesuit, upon whom they 
placed all the responsibility for their misfortunes in the 
expedition.^ The Captain of the Dutch settlement, 
knowing the evil designs of the savages, suggested some 
means of escape, especially as the French Governor M. 
le Chevalier de Montmagny had prevented the savages 
of New France from coming to kill some Dutch. ^ To 
the astonishment of the Captain, Father Jogues deferred 
his decision until the next day. The Jesuit missionary 
had, in fact, resolved to spend the remainder of his days 
in captivity for the salvation of the Iroquois and their 
captives, of whom he had been able to baptize seventy 
in the past year. Now, however, the certainty of death 
if he remained and the hope of a return to the Mohawks 
under more favorable circumstances led him to consent 
to escape with the help of the Dutch. On the next day, 
Father Jogues told the Dutch Captain his intention to 
take advantage of his proffered assistance. A ship 
happened to be in the river at that time and the sailors, 
on the representations of the Captain, pledged their 
word that, if the Jesuit could once set foot on their 
vessel, they would make his place of refuge secure and 
would not have him leave the ship until he reached 

^ Letter of Jogues from Rensselaerswyck. August 30, 1643. 
Jes. Rels. xxv. 47. 

2 Ibid. 49. Charlevoix states that an order to obtain the 
deliverance of Father Jogues had been sent to all the commandants 
in New Belgium by the States General of Holland, from whom the 
Queen Regent of France had urgently requested this. 



■^ tw k|' tc 

;i| 111 M « 

i. It W '# . 

■^1^ lift TC iif 

iif ^iC ifC '^ 



■vsr i-t^ *-»j, ,"»t 
■ ^^# If' ^4i ,^ 



282 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

plentiful provisions were sent for his consumption, the 
old miser barely gave him "as much as was necessary not 
to live, but not to die." Then the frequent visits of 
the Indians for purposes of trade to the room next to 
the garret, separated from it by planks with large 
intervening cracks, compelled Jogues to crouch behind 
casks, to avoid discovery, but at the price of great pain 
in the members of his body. Finally, gangrene began 
to manifest itself in the wound inflicted by the dog on 
his leg, but the kind ministration of the surgeon of the 
settlement saved his life also from this danger. 

Meanwhile, the Director General of the province had 
learned that Father Jogues was not very much at ease 
in the vicinity of the Mohawks, who were induced by 
the Dutch towards the middle of September finally to 
accept some presents to the amount of three hundred 
livres. Then in accordance with the instructions of 
William Kieft, Father Jogues was taken by boat to New 
Amsterdam. The Dutch minister, who had shown him 
much kindness accompanied him down the Hudson 
River. "He was supplied with a number of bottles, 
which he dealt out lavishly, — especially on coming to 
an Island, to which he wished that my name should be 
given with the noise of cannon and of bottles." Jogues 
quaintly and naively remarks that "each one manifests 
his love in his own fashion." On his arrival at 
New Amsterdam, the Director General received him 
very humanely and furnished him with good raiment, 
of which he stood sorely in need. The inhabitants of 
the town gave the Jesuit missionary every token of 
regard and esteem. A Lutheran Pole, meeting him in a 
retired spot, fell at his feet, kissed his mutilated hands 



' m *# ^4 ^k -^^ >€ -M M 



iff M w.- s 

U '»5|' 'f , 

;.; 1I|V rit /^ 

;^ ^# m^ ^^ ^ 

:'^^# If- w:^ 

\4^. W^- %ift i 



284 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

body/ Finally, all the savages clamored for his death 
by fire, but an old woman, to whom he had been given 
in the place of her grandfather, killed some time before 
in an encounter with the Hurons, ransomed the mis- 
sionary with a belt of wampum, worth about thirty-five 
livres. He was received into her cabin, but her daughters 
could not bear the sight of him on account of the 
horrible appearance of his mangled body.^ Meanwhile, 
the Dutch gave him good reason to hope for his ransom, 
which was finally effected without much difficulty, as 
the Indians held him in little esteem, because of his 
want of skill for everything, and because they believed 
that he would never get well of his ailments.^ The old 
woman ordered her son to take him to the Dutch and to 
deliver him into their hands after receiving some 
presents in return. The Dutch received the Jesuit, 
naked and with his fingers maimed and bleeding, in great 
kindness and satisfied the Indian with presents to the 
amount of about two hundred livres.* He was clothed, 
placed under the care of the surgeon, and almost daily 
fed at the table of the Dutch minister.^ After he had 
been restored to health, he was brought to New Amster- 
dam, where he was finally placed on a ship, manned by 
Huguenots, sailing for Europe. He carried with him 
this letter of safe-conduct: "We, William Kieft, 
Director General, and the Council of New Netherland, 

^ Details given by Bressani himself in his Relation of 1653. Jes. 
Rels. xxxix. 

2 Rel. 1643-44 by Vimont. Jes. Rels. xxvi. 49. 

3 Letter of Bressani from New Amsterdam. August 31, 1644, 
Jes. Rels. xxxix. 77. 

* Ibid. p. 78-79 with note 8. 

^ Letter of Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis of Amsterdam. 
Sept. 28, 1658. Eccl. Recs. N. Y. i. 437. 



'.■ .«t| fst .'Sit , 



■f ^^1 .t^ ^ 



286 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

step into the canoe on this dangerous mission, they 
warned him not to speak in the beginning of the faith 
which was so repulsive to the Iroquois, as it seemed to 
exterminate everything that men held most dear. They 
also advised him to wear shorter apparel, as the long 
robe preached as well as the lips, and the warning was 
heeded.* On his arrival in the Mohawk country, his 
efforts to have the peace ratified by the Indians were 
successful. However, some savages with distrustful 
minds did not look with favor on a little box, which the 
Father left as a pledge of his return to the country, as 
they imagined that it enclosed some disastrous mis- 
fortune. Father Jogues opened the chest and showed 
these Indians that it contained no other mystery than 
some small necessaries, for which he might have use 
on his return.^ This conclusion of a peace with the 
fierce Mohawks raised in the hearts of the Jesuits great 
hopes oi their final conversion. In the following sum- 
mer, Father Jogues was,in fact, appointed to begin among 
these Indians a new mission under the patronage of the 
Holy Martyrs. He planned to spend the winter in the 
Mohawk country to begin with solidity the instruction 
of those infidels.^ Meanwhile, superstition had again 
poisoned the minds of the savages against the mission- 
ary in spite of all their former professions of undying 
friendship. Upon his arrival on the 1 7th of October, 
1646, Father Jogues was stripped naked, loaded with 
blows and threatened with death on the following day. 
The savages kept their promise in spite of the opposition 

^ Rel. 1645-6 by Lalemant in Jes. Rels. xxix. 47, 49. 
2 Rel. 1645-6 by Lalemant in Jes. Rels. xxix 55, 57. 
^ Bressani's Relation of 1653. Jes. Rels. xxxix. 235-36. 






;7^^ i'fj^ «*l^^ ^*y, 

r-- 1if % /€ ■= 

- '^^ '^^ ^ ^ 
■ W af M; / 



288 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

have never been repaid, so that we think that, when 
complaints reach France, they will take care of their 
countrymen."^ 

Two years later on August 20, 1653, a band of 
marauding Iroquois, during an incursion into Canada, 
captured Father Joseph Poncet and another French- 
man, Maturin Franchetot, while the Jesuit was speaking 
to the latter in his field to induce him to garner the 
little harvest of a poor French widow. On the arrival 
of these Indians in the Mohawk country, their prisoners 
were stripped of their clothing and compelled to run 
the gauntlet under a shower of blows. Later in the day , 
Father Poncet lost the first finger of his left hand, which 
was cut off by a child at the bidding of a savage in 
response to the request of an Indian woman. Mean- 
while, the Mohawks, who were besieging Three Rivers, 
met with greater resistance than they had anticipated, 
and began to sue for peace, but the French refused to 
begin any negotiations, unless the Jesuit Father and his 
fellow-prisoner were restored. 'The Indian chief 
pleaded ignorance of the capture of these Frenchmen 
and immediately ordered two canoes to return to the 
Mohawk country to prevent any harm from being done 
to the prisoners, and to procure their release if still 
alive. ^ Franchetot had already been burned to death 
on the eighth of September, while the life of Father 
Poncet had been saved through his adoption by a good 
old woman in the place of a brother, killed or captured 
some time before. The Indian, who brought the mes- 

^ Letter of Directors to Stuyvesant. March 21, 165 1. Col. Docs. 
N. Y. xiii. 28. 

2 Relation. 1652-53. Jes. Rels. xl. 171. 



f '4 ?i| ■% 









m s'f&i «^ 



'W If '^tf ..^ 



.■3,ilf W^iJ' •«■»>:■ -"f:'i 

*^4;?7, -V^/': '^ifV 1 



apo RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

promise them to return the next summer.^ Meanwhile, 
the Indian Councils gathered the presents and selected 
the embassy for the solemn conclusion of peace with 
the French. Father Poncet with his conductor and the 
other Iroquois finally arrived at Montreal on October 
24th, and on the sixth of November the great affair of 
peace, so ardently desired, was brought to a close in 
Quebec' The Mohawks left four of their number as 
hostages with the French, while two young soldiers 
volunteered to go to the Mohawk country in the same 
capacity at the request of the savages. In the calcu- 
lation of the Mohawks, the peace was only a preliminary 
step to obtain the removal of the Hurons to their own 
country, which had been secretly proposed to the latter 
at the very time that they were discussing the con- 
clusion of the peace with the French.^ 

During the winter of 1654, the Onondagas 
came to Quebec to strengthen the peace that 
they had already negotiated in the preceding 
fall. They also made the same secret proposals 
to the Hurons, who did not dare to refuse in their 
anxiety for peace, but demanded first a dwelling 
for the black robes, their teachers, whom they would 

* The Relation of 1656-7 gives a curious fact, which may be 
mentioned here in its own words. "A woman, who was very ill at 
Onontagh6, had dreamed that she required a black gown to 
effect her cure. But, as the recent cruel massacre of our Fathers 
by those Barbarians deprived them of all hope of being able to ob- 
tain one from us, they applied to the Dutch, who sold them at a 
very high price the wretched cassock of Father Poncet, who had 
shortly before been despoiled of it by the Annienhronnons. The 
woman attributed her cure to it, and wished to keep it all her life as 
a precious relic." Jes. Rels xliii. 273. 

^Relation of 1652-53. Jes. Rels. xl. 119-157. 

^Relation of 1653-54. Jes. Rels. xli. 47-49. 









' tM& he 'Mi: : 



'-;i '# Mi -^ 
%§ :'M: M '^ 



292 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Mohawks were disappointed by the fact that they had 
been forestalled by the Onondagas. The chief in a 
clever speech made their complaint known to the 
French. "Ought not one to enter a house by the door, 
and not by the chimney or roof of the cabin, unless he 
be a thief, and wish to take the inmates by surprise? 
We, the five Iroquois Nations, compose but one cabin; 
we maintain but one fire ; and we have, from time im- 
memorial, dwelt under one and the same roof. Well, 
then, will you not enter the cabin by the door, which 
is at the ground floor of the house? It is with us 
Mohawks, that you should begin; whereas you, by 
beginning with the Onondagas, try to enter by the roof 
and through the chimney. Have you no fear that the 
smoke may blind you, our fire not being extinguished 
and that you may fall from the top to the bottom, 
having nothing solid on which to plant your feet?" 
The French Governor assured the Mohawks that 
Father Le Moyne would also go to their country and 
gave him letters to deliver to the Jesuit missionary to 
inform him to that effect, but the Father had gained 
such a start that the Mohawk chief could not overtake 
him.^ Father Le Moyne, on his arrival in the Onondaga 
country, received every evidence of good will on the 
part of the savages, who at this time had great fear of 
the issue of an impending war with the powerful Erie 
tribes or the Cat Nation. The chief of the Onondagas, 
speaking in the name of the Five Iroquois Nations, 
again told Father Le Moyne that it was their wish to 
acknowledge Him of whom he had told them, who is 
the master of their lives, and who was unknown to them, 

^Relation. 1653-54. Jes. Rels. xli. 87-89. 



M' M A 'u 



■V '*-^^^-=^ vti^ 



'^M '^^ '?^i| n 

^^# M ¥;■ ;^ 

^1^ m^ w H 



294 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

he was trying to discover the presence of the enemy for 
the sake of the Christian savages at work in the fields, 
whom he wished to warn. Persons were killed and 
taken captive on either side. Finally, the Mohawks, 
weary of the war, brought back the French captives and 
requested the restoration of their own Indians. They 
agreed not to attack the French any longer, nor to bear 
arms below Three Rivers, but they refused to discon- 
tinue the war against the Algonquins and Hurons, 
whom they might find above that village on the river 
of St. Lawrence. Father Le Moyne was now sent to the 
Mohawks to take back the prisoners, captured by the 
French, and "also to cement that peace, as well as it 
can be cemented with the Infidels who are allied to 
Heretics."^ The Jesuit left Montreal on this mission, 
August 17, 1655, with twelve Iroquois and two 
Frenchmen. A month later the party reached their des- 
tination, where the Father was received with "extraor- 
dinary cordiality." A council was held, which passed 
in many exchanges of courtesy. Le Moyne then 
pushed on to the Dutch settlement where he was also 
received ''with great demonstration of affection by the 
Dutch," from whom he learned of the attack of the 
River Indians upon New Amsterdam. On his return 
to the Mohawks, he almost met death at the hands of a 
a madman, who finally was calmed by a quickwitted 
Indian squaw's suggestion to kill her dog in the place 
of the missionary. However, a Huron Christian had his 
head split without ceremony upon a mere suspicion 
that he had revealed to the Father some of the designs, 

^ Introduction to Copies of two Letters sent from New France. 
1656. Jes. Rel. xli. 201-223. 



295 






::l| ill r 

MM - - , 

■ 7il ^«- * J 

M W M ,t 



•^^^ 'm^ '?i|: ^■ 

■^# af >tr ..' 

t.M3CM: 



296 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

were not content. In a solemn council, on the 29th of 
February, the Savages told the Fathers, that they were 
tired of any further postponement of the French settle- 
ment, for which they had been waiting from year to 
year. In the event of further delay, they threatened to 
break the peace, which they had concluded with the 
French under this condition. A few days later, Father 
Dablon, realizing the urgency of the matter, set out 
for Canada with some Indian guides, and, after a weary 
journey through snow, ice and rain, arrived at Montreal 
on the 30th of March. All preparations for the new set- 
tlement were completed on the 1 7th of May. A band 
of about fifty Frenchmen, with Father Francis le 
Mercier, Father Rene Menard and Father Jacques 
Fremin, and Brothers Ambroise Broar and Joseph 
Boursier, accompanied Father Dablon back to Onon- 
daga, where they arrived on the eleventh of July. 

News of this French settlement at Onondaga soon 
reached the Dutch Province. Although the Jesuits 
believed that the Dutch were glad that they dwelt in 
these places, and reported that the Dutch were even 
willing to bring them horses and other commodities,^ 
the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber, informed by 
Stuyvesant of a French settlement among the Senecas, 
expressed their dissatisfaction, as the matter could only 
be to the disadvantage of the Province of New Nether- 
land and its inhabitants. There is no doubt that 
their suspicions were well founded, for the Jesuits 

back from Kebec without greater esteem and affection for our 
mysteries, and without a desire to be instructed and to embrace the 
Faith; they say that they experience quite different feeUngs when 
they return from the Dutch settlements." Jes. Rels. xliv. 45. 
1 Relation of 1656-57. Jes. Rels. xliii. 185. 












^1" j%,i^ 



■ ^^i^ W "^tf '^ 
t U- M ^^, 

■ "^W- U %df > 
^# M 1# ?^' 



298 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Cat Nation. A number of murders committed by the 
Iroquois at Montreal confirmed the fears of the French^ 
and resulted in the arrest of all the Iroquois found in 
Montreal, Three Rivers and Quebec.^ War was inevit- 
able. The destruction of the French settlers had 
already been determined, when they escaped in a body, 
while the savages were overcome by sleep after a 
generous feast given by the French. After a perilous 
journey, they reached Montreal on the 3d of April, but 
three Frenchmen had lost their lives in the rapids of the 
St. Lawrence.^ 

The Onondaga settlement had been the source of 
much jealousy to the Mohawks. However, a Huron clan 
had also been forced to settle in the Mohawk country, in 
the spring of 1655, to obtain the peace, for which the 
Hurons sued, after their enemies had surprised their 
village on the Isle of Orleans. On his visit to the 
Mohawks in the summer. Father LeMoyne found these 
Hurons reduced to a state of slavery. "The husband 
was separated from the wife, and the children from 
their parents; in short they were serving those Bar- 
barians as beasts of burden." As in the preceding 
year the missionary's labors were mainly claimed by 
this suffering flock among the heathen Mohawks. Like 
a good shepherd, ' 'he consoled the afflicted ; he taught 
the ignorant; he heard the confessions of those who 
came to him; he baptized the children; he made all 
pray to God ; he exhorted all to persevere in the Faith 
and in avoiding sin." Little success followed his efforts 
with the Mohawks themselves. Nevertheless, he never 

1 Rel. 1657-58. Jes. Rel. xliv. 155-6. 

2 Letter of Paul Raguenau. Ibid. 175-183. 



WM MM 



'IS--,,,- ^.isr 






■^^ ■« 'm,^ p 
■ ^i^ M ^€ ;^ 



300 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

taught the Indians anything more than to make the 
sign of the Cross and such Hke superstitions."^ The 
missionary told the minister that he wanted only to 
chat. He informed him of the existence of wonderful 
mineral springs in the western part of the country inha- 
bited by the Iroquois. There was a spring of salt water 
from which he had obtained excellent salt by boiling 
the water; there was an oil spring, which the Indians 
used to anoint their hair ; and there was another spring 
of hot sulphurous water, in which paper and dry 
materials became ignited. The minister could not 
decide, whether all this was true, or whether it was a 
mere Jesuit lie, and so he mentioned the whole matter 
on the authority of the Jesuit to his ecclesiastical su- 
periors in Holland.^ 

1 The Dutch seem to have been under the impression that the 
conversion of the Indians to Christianity wrought by the Jesuits 
was superficial. Thus while Van der Donck admits that "the 
Jesuits have taken great pains and trouble in Canada to convert the 
Indians to the Roman Church," he believes that the Indians profess 
that religion only "outwardly," and so "inasmuch as they are not 
well instructed in its fundamental principles, they fall off lightly and 
make sport of the subject and its doctrine." Van der Donck's au- 
thority for this statement is the alleged experience of a Dutch mer- 
chant on a trading trip to Canada in 1639, who plied an Indian 
chief with liquor, loosening his tongue and imagiantion. "After he 
had drank two or three glasses of wine, . . . the chief said that he had 
been instructed so far that he often said mass among the Indians, 
and that on a certain occasion the place where the altar stood 
caught fire by accident, and our people made preparations to put 
out the fire, which he forbade them to do, saying that God who 
stands there is almighty, and he will put out the fire himself; and 
we waited with great attention, but the fire continued till all was 
burned up, with your Almighty God himself and with all the fine 
things about him. Since that time I have never held to that re- 
ligion, but regard the sun and the moon much more, as being better 
than all your Gods are ; for they warm the earth and cause the fruits 
to grow, when your lovely Gods cannot preserve themselves from 
the fire." Van der Donck. A Description of New Netherland. 
N. Y. Hist. Society Coll. 2nd. Ser. i. (1841), p. 214. 

2 "The Springs, which are as numerous as they are wonderful, 
are nearly all minerals. Our little lake (Onondaga) which is only 



/iv'^^i.^ ' ."iivtr -^i-^C' Tui'-C 'ViBjti i 



r 111 1^ iu, 
f^- iM ^1^ m 



M '^^ % *^:- 



302 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

French Governor, who immediately took counsel with 
the principal inhabitants of Canada in regard to this 
matter. There was no objection raised to the com- 
merce of the Dutch with Canada, as the Dutch had 
long been received in French ports as friends and allies 
of the Crown. The French Governor only stipulated 
that their ships were to observe the same customs, as 
the French vessels, which excluded all participation in 
the Indian trade and the public exercise on land of 
any religion that was opposed to the Roman faith. ^ 
Father Le Moyne communicated this reply to the 
Dutch from Fort Orange on April 7,1658, and expressed 
regret that he was unable to accompany the first ship 
to Quebec, as he had planned to do, inasmuch as he 
would have with him, on his journey to Canada, "his 
sailors of the woods. "^ The Mohawks, in their negotia- 
tions for the release of the prisoners held by the French, 
had promised to bring back Father Le Moyne to 
Canada in the spring. They stopped at Fort Orange 
previous to their departure and the Jesuit took the 
opportunity to send a long letter to the Dutch minister, 
who had been a Catholic until his twenty-third year, 
when he had left the Church of Rome to become a 
follower of John Calvin. To win back the minister to 

identified. There are several magnesian springs, but not located as 
in the text. I think it was one of the common springs, highly- 
charged with sulphate of lime. John Bartram saw one of these in 
1743, at Onondaga; but it was not oderous, being above the gypsum 
rocks. Cf . allusions to the mineral springs of that region, in Robert 
Munro's Description of the Genesee Country (N. Y. 1804; reprinted 
in N. Y. Doc. Hist. ii. 679-689.") — W. M. Beauchamp. Note 
21. Jes. Rels. xliii. 326. 

^ Letter of Governor D'Aillebout to Father Le Moyne, Quebec. 
February 18, 1658. O'Callaghan. Hist, of New Netherland. ii. p. 

364. 

2 Letter. Ibid. 



,<!& 









?t U- M M 



304 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

validity of a council did not depend on the approval of 
the Pope, but on its conformity with the Word of God — 
of course according to the Reformed interpretation — 
which alone assured the presence of the Holy Spirit, 
while Popes and Councils often contradicted one 
another. Megapolensis could not deny Calvin's depar- 
ture from the Christian belief obtaining in the world 
before his day, but he represented Calvin's teaching as a 
restoration of the Gospel of Christ in its "purity," 
inasmuch as Calvin had discerned anew "the pure doc- 
trines" of election, founded solely on the good pleasure 
of God, of Christ as the only sacrifice for sin and only 
mediator with God, of good works, done out of gratitude 
and for the glory of God, and not from the selfish 
motive of reward. The Dutch, minister, therefore, did 
not allow the charge of heresy against Calvin, "who 
brought back the doctrine of Christ's merits," while 
the Jesuits, putting off even the name of Christian, 
took refuge "in the fictitious merits, indulgences, and 
satisfactions" of Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. 
He, therefore, tells Le Moyne to omit some names in his 
list of heretics and insert in their place various Orders 
of Monks and several Orders of Nuns. Finally Mega- 
polensis implored the Jesuit in his advancing age to 
ponder on his responsibility to Christ for his steward- 
ship, as he was profaning the holy ordinance of Christ 
in baptizing Indians, when they were willing to make 
the sign of the cross, and sometimes even when half 
dead. The Dutch minister promised to pray for 
Le Moyne "that he may be delivered from his errors 
and led to the true knowledge of Christ." The first 
ship dispatched from New Amsterdam to Canada 






Cf. 



3o6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

ed with presents and also some prisoners and directed to 
invite the Elders to visit the Governor for the conclu- 
sion of a general peace with all the Nations. Good 
treatment was promised to the Mohawk prisoners, who 
were retained in captivity.^ Shortly after the return 
of the Mohawks to their own country, fifteen of the 
oldest chiefs presented themselves at Fort Orange and 
requested the Dutch authorities to give them an 
interpreter, who was to assist them in the exchange of 
four French prisoners for Six Mohawk captives and in 
the conclusion of a peace with all the Indians of that 
region. The Dutch replied that they had no person 
who was able to act in such a capacity, but the Mohawks 
refused to allow such an excuse. "When ye were at 
war with the Indians, we went to the Manhattans and 
used our best endeavors to procure you peace. Ye are 
bound, therefore, now to befriend us on this occasion." 
The public crier was then sent around to offer one 
hundred guilders to any person, who would consent 
to act as interpreter to these Mohawks. One of the 
Company's soldiers, Henry Martin, volunteered and 
set out with the Mohawks, who promised to bring 
him back in safety at the end of forty days.^ 

On their arrival, the Mohawks, calling the attention 
of the French to the fact that the Captain of New Hol- 
land was their companion in this embassy, told the 
French Governor to seek the means of establishing a 
firm peace, but appointed the Mohawk village as the 
place of the council, in which all their nations would 
assemble. The Governor, speaking in the name of the 

^ Rel. 1657-58. Jes. Rels. xliv. 223. 

2 Cf. Letter. August 15, 1658. La Montague to M. De la Petrie. 
O'Callaghan. Hist, of New Netherland. ii. 366. 



; i'W im .'m- ;^i 

i! '..»|. ilB *Si '.Si 

-itf •^tf M .» J 



\ . ■ ■•-' Si 5 .-4;; ^; ^ KjC , . v,^"*. . 









f. 'W af 'isl; :«f 
tit % M H 



3o8 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to their country, while the two Oneidas were retained 
until two Frenchmen taken by the Onondagas should 
be restored/ In spite of the promises made by these 
Mohawks at the time of their departure, eight French- 
men were taken captive a month later by a band of one 
hundred Mohawks near Three Rivers, but, shortly before 
this, some savages had killed nine Iroquois a day's 
journey above Montreal.^ The Dutch requested the 
Mohawks to release their eight French prisoners and to 
restore them to their country, but the Mohawks 
deferred the answer to this request until the as- 
sembly of a council of their castles. They com- 
plained bitterly that the French did not keep the 
peace, as French savages attacked them, whenever 
they were out hunting, and thrashed them with 
the help of the disguised Frenchmen always among 
them.^ On January i6, 1660, Abraham Staes of 
Beverwyck wrote to Stuyvesant that the Mohawks had 
declared that they would bring back to Canada the 
French prisoners in the spring and then make a solid 
peace with the French. However, with the arrival of 
spring, the Iroquois threatened all the French settle- 
ments on the St. Lawrence.^ Seventeen young French- 
men of Montreal under Dollard, with forty Huron War- 
riors, decided to cut off the Iroquois returning from the 
chase, but, in the month of June, they were hemmed in, 
in an old dilapidated fort at Long Sault, by seven 
hundred Iroquois, composed of two hundred Ononda- 

^ Journal des PP. J^stiites. 1659-1660. Jes. Rels. xlv. 81-95. 
2 Ibid. 107, 109. 

^ Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange. September 24, 1659. Col. 
Docs. N. Y. xiii. 113. 

* Journal des PP. J^suites. 1660. Jes. Rels. xlv. 153. 



mi im 11 



i m w /€ ^^» 



i# ^1 



"if^- ^iln '^H,. 

# lif jiff :h! 



r HIS'- ■'sji'^' 



3IO RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

existence there in want of all things." This misery 
was the work of a handful of Iroquois, who all together 
did not equal the thousandth part of those whose salva- 
tion they prevented. The Jesuits estimated the force of 
the Five Nations at this period at twenty-two hundred 
warriors, of which the Mohawks constituted five hun- 
dred "in two or three wretched villages," the Oneidas 
one hundred, the Onondagas and the Cayugas three 
hundred each, and the Senecas one thousand. Even 
this number was not composed solely of pure Iroquois, 
of whom scarcely more than twelve hundred could be 
found in the whole of the Five Nations.^ The soul of 
the hostility of the Iroquois to the French was the 
Mohawk, who, before the advent of the Dutch, had been 
overcome in a ten years war by the Andastes and some- 
time before by the Algonquins so that the nation had 
been almost rendered extinct. They were then so humi- 
liated that the mere name of Algonquin made the Mo- 
hawks tremble. However, when the Dutch took posses- 
sion of New Netherland, they furnished those people 
with firearms, with which it was easy for them to con- 
quer their conquerors, who were filled with terror at 
the mere sound of their guns. They became victorious 
everywhere and aspired to sovereign sway over all the 
Nations. There was, therefore, no hope of peace and 
the Jesuits felt that the destruction of these Indian was 
necessary to open the approaches to at least ten 

^ Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer says: "Yet even in the days of 
their greatest strength and power, during the first half of the 
seventeenth century, when they had procured firearms from the 
white men, they numbered not more than four thousand warriors, 
twenty thousand souls in all. Twice as many of their descendants, 
it has been computed, now survive in and near the State of New 
York." History of the City of New York. i. 58. 



■^- rf ^ .#■ lii tffe ^MV 4lf w 



^-■><?«*mi:Vj 



?,! v'^f J^;iH ^-^KL 

^# ^If- JMk ^^ 

www M 



: M 1« n ^ 

■, III ■# 1^ i' 
xs^' -is^: t*#' t^sj: 



312 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

twenty Frenchmen in captivity at Onondaga depended 
on this journey." The demand was reinforced by the 
production of a leaf torn out of a book with the sig- 
natures of the twenty Frenchmen to guarantee the good 
faith of the ambassadors. When the four Frenchmen, 
former captives at Onondaga, gave testimony of the 
kind treatment received by the French at the hands of 
those savages, the Governor and his councillors, after 
mature deliberation, accepted the proposals of the 
Indians. Father Le Moyne accompanied the ambassa- 
dors with the liberated Cayugas, after they had pledged 
their word to return at the end of forty days with the 
French captives and with some of their elders to deliber- 
ate on matters of public interest.^ 

Father Le Moyne was received with great honor in 
Onondaga, where he found the twenty French captives 
under the protection of Garacontie. He reminded the 
savages of the promise to restore the French, but they 
consented to liberate only nine of them, seven at Onon- 
daga and two at Cayuga, while the other Frenchmen 
were to remain at Onondaga with Father Le Moyne until 
next spring, when they also would obtain their liberty.^ 
Garacontie headed the embassy, which left Onondaga 
towards the middle of September with the nine French- 
men. Some of the Indians wished to abandon the 
enterprise, when they met an Onondaga chieftain, 
clothed in the cassock of Father Le Maistre, whom he 
had murdered shortly before, but Garacontie was able 
to overcome their fear of retaliation on their own per- 

^ Relation 1660-1661. Jes. Rels. xlvi. 223-241. 
'Letter of Le Moyne. August 25, and September 11, 166 1, to 
Lalemant. Jes. Rels. xlvii. 69-83. 



1^ M M- 






f. M ^i M 

■\s£ '-sd'' "M m 



314 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

kill US where they find us, without burdening them- 
selves with us."^ 

During the winter, Father Le Moyne consoled the 
French in their captivity, strengthened the Huron 
Christians in their faith and laid the foundations to the 
conversion of the Iroquois. His life was not without 
danger from the hands of savages under the domination 
of the demon of dreams and of the demon of drink. 
One, who in a dream had seen himself dressed in a cas- 
sock, broke into the chapel, determined to strip the 
missionary of this garment. Another in a drunken fit 
attempted to pounce on the crucifix over the altar. ^ 
His hatchet was raised to strike the Jesuit, who was 
resolved to give his life sooner than surrender the image 
of the Crucified Saviour, but he was rescued by the 
Elders of the village. Some of the Indians "threw the 
blame on the Dutch, who (they say) furnish them a 
certain drink that makes madmen of the wisest, and 
deprives him of his reason before he knows it." For 
the Indians brought brandy "from New Holland in such 
quantities as to make a veritable Pot- House of Onon- 
daga." To rid him of these afflictions for a time, the 
less cruel Cayugas invited Le Moyne to visit their 
villages. Here there was established a Huron village 
entirely Christian. A month later Father Le Moyne re- 
turned to Onondaga, where Garacontie had arrived from 

^ Letter to a friend at Three Rivers . The captive was soon 
delivered through the intervention of Garacontie. Jes. Rels. xlvii. 

93- 

2 This crucifix, about two feet in height, had been carried off the 
year previous by the Mohawks from Argentenay on the Island of 
Orleans. Garacontie saw it at Agni6, and obtained it by giving 
them a rich present and holding an eloquent eulogy on the Crucifix. 
Cf. Relation. 1661-1662. Jes. Rels. xlvii. 215. 



1 



'''M'^ 






3l6 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

to render thanks to God in the church."* The war 
between the Iroquois and the Andastes prevented the 
renewal of the French missions in that country during 
the two following years, while the domination of the 
Dutch in New Netherland still continued. 

^Relation. 1661-1662. Jes. Rels. xlvii. 191-193. 



~M.'M'M'.'M^.A 



€ J4 /€ A. A A M v^. ^^^ 



^•'^ ■#- til^ #: 
. he ^*' M' ^ 

«<' •'^vf'- 'tti^- Ij^"* 









'^i:4r "i%ff:. '»«3' 



320 NEW NETHERLAND 

1629. Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions: grants in the form 

patroonships and colonies outside of Manhattan Island. 
First explicit legal recognition of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, for which the patroons and colonists are bound 
to provide. 

1630. Foundation of patroonships: on the Delaware, Swanendael; 

on the Hudson at its mouth, Pavonia, and at Fort Orange 
Rensselaerswyck. The last patroonship was the only 
permanent foundation of this kind in New Netherland. 

1632. Minuit recalled. 

Lords Say and Seal, etc., receive from the Earl of Warwick 
the grant of Connecticut, but neglect colonization till 
several years later. 

1633. Wouter Van Twiller, Director General. Everardus Bogar- 

dus, the second Dutch minister. Adam Rolandsen, the 
first schoolmaster. The "William of London" goes up 
the Hudson to trade, on the plea that this is English ter- 
ritory. Fort Good Hope on the Connecticut completed. 
A wooden church erected at Manhattan. Winthrop 
protests against Dutch occupation of Connecticut, which 
is claimed to be within the possessions of the English 
King. A little above Fort Good Hope, Plymouth erects 
a stockade (Windsor.) 

1634. Trouble between the Dutch and the Raritans about New 

Amsterdam. 
Pequods surrender to Massachusetts their rights to the 
Connecticut River country. 

1635. A "Part of New England" and Long Island granted by the 

Plymouth Council to Lord Stirling. English encroach- 
ments on the Connecticut. Eight hundred English in 
Connecticut Valley. English settlements at Wethersfield 
and Windsor, and the following year at Springfield. 

1638. William Kieft, Director General. 

Swedes settle on the Delaware and build Fort Christina. 
New Sweden founded in spite of the protests of Kieft by 
the former Director Minuit. 

1639. English settlements along Long Island Sound : New Haven, 

Stratford, Norwalk, Greenwich, encroachments on Dutch 
territory. Organization of Connecticut, and New Haven 
commonwealths . 

1640. Farret visits Manhattan and in the name of Lord Stirling 

lays claim to all Long Island. He is arrested, but then 
dismissed. English attempt to settle there, but are 
expelled . 
New Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions extended to all in 
friendly relations with the United Provinces, but pro- 



%#f mf ^gf 






M W ^1 '^^ 



*-S «^rr- '?!\. 4'f^^ *' 

% m 'M. M- 

'}^ ni- ,!# Ht 

rli^- iff 0^^ kt " 
'■,.'' -V.^/'-. '^.^f- 'kx- 



322 NEW NETHERLAND 

1645. General peace with the Indians. 

English settlers return to Mespath and reestablish colony 
in its vicinity under the name of Newtown. Flushing 
founded by Massachusetts exiles. Gravesend patent 
issued. 

Ctuagoa, Aruba and neighboring West India Islands placed 
under the jurisdiction of the Director of New Netherland. 

Quarrel between Director Kieft and Rev. Bogardus. 

1646. New Haven encroaches on Dutch territory in the North and 

the Swedes do the same in the South. Kieft protests 
against the meeting of the New England commissioners at 
New Haven, which he claims to be within the limits of 
New Netherland. Amsterdam Chamber instructs Kieft 
to oppose all further English encroachments with all 
means at his disposal short of war. The Swedes pull 
down the arms of Holland erected on the site of Philadel- 
phia, purchased by the Dutch from the Indians. 

Colendonck founded near Spyt den Duyvel. Patent 
issued for Katskill. Breuckelen incorporated. 

Father Jogues, S. J. put to death by the Mohawks. 

1647 Peter Stuyvesant, Director. Population of New Nether- 
land estimated at 2000. 

Cornelis Melyn and Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, two of the 
"Eight Men,' ' prosecuted for their criticism of the previous 
administration, fined and banished. 

The board of "Nine Men" appointed to represent the com- 
monalty, and to furnish revenue in support of the colonial 
government. 

Conflicts with the English. Lady Stirling's agent repre- 
sents himself at Flushing and Hempstead as her governor 
of Long Island. He is arrested and sent to Holland, but 
escapes in England. Stuyvesant declares Dutch claim 
to all territory between the Delaware and the Connecticut 
and then he extends claim to territory between Cape 
Henlopen and Cap Cod. A Dutch ship seized at New 
Haven and brought to Manhattan. 

1648. Conflicts with the Swedes on the Delaware. Swedes crowd 

the Dutch. Dutch trade ruined. New England com- 
plains of Dutch trading regulations. Stuyvesant anxious 
for a settlement of differences and for the establishment 
of an alliance. Unsettled condition of England prevents 
a settlement in Europe. Directors of West India Com- 
pany recommend Stuyvesant "to endeavor to live in 
the best possible terms," as the English are too strong for 
the Dutch. 
General discontent results in the Dutch Province from the 
loss of trade. The "Nine Men" propose a mission to 
Holland to make known the state of the province. 

1649. The journal of the "Nine Men", kept by Van der Donck for 






323 



'''V y"' 






324 NEW NETHERLAND 

1653. London. Stuyvesant suggests that New England agen,ts 
visit New Netherland to examine the evidence of such a 
plot, which is done. 

Connecticut and New Haven urge war with New Nether- 
land, but Massachusetts persistently refuses to engage 
in such war. Captain Underhill raises the parliament flag 
on Long Island, and is banished. He seizes Fort Good 
Hope "with permission from the General Court of 
Hartford." 

Convention of delegates from various towns of the Province 
assemble at New Amsterdam, and vote a Remonstrance 
on the State of New Netherland, demanding a represen- 
tative government, etc. This petition is sent to Holland. 
Stuyvesant dissolves the convention. 

1654. Lutherans at New Amsterdam are denied permission to call 

a minister of their own persuasion and to worship publicly 
by themselves. 

An English expedition against New Netherland sails from 
England. Troops raised in New England, but the con- 
clusion of peace prevents the invasion of New Netherland. 

The Swedes, under their new governor Rising, capture the 
Dutch fort Casimir, and call it Fort Trinity. A Swedish 
ship seized at Manhattan. English settle in Westchester 
in spite of Stuyvesant's prohibition to do so. Oyster Bay 
applies to New Haven to be under its jurisdiction. No 
attention is paid to Stuyvesant's complaints. 

Dutch ambassadors try to settle boundary question in 
England. Cromwell has received no information from 
New England and refuses to decide the question on the 
allegations of only one party. 

1655. Some English raise the flag of England at Gravesend, L. L, 

and arrests follow. English settlers in West Chester re- 
fuse to recognize Dutch jurisdiction before the settlement 
of the boundary by England. 

Swedes on the Delaware reduced on the order of the West 
India Company. Lutheran Swedes are allowed the min- 
istry of one Lutheran clergyman. The vice-director 
instructed by Stuyvesant to "maintain and protect the 
Reformed Religion." Indians invade New Amsterdam; 
Hoboken, Pavonia and Staten Island laid waste. General 
consternation. 

French settle at Onondaga. Mission begun by Fathers 
Chaumonot and Dablon. Jesuit chapel erected. 

1656. Stuyvesant orders the formation of compact villages in 

imitation of "our New England neighbors" for better 

defense against the Indians. 
"Conventicles," or places of worship not in harmony with 

the established Dutch church are prohibited under heavy 

fines. Religious persecution ensues. 
The English of Westchester forced to acknowledge Dutch 



326 NEW NETHERLAND 

1662 Connecticut receives a royal charter to all territory south 
of Massachusetts to the ocean and West to the Pacific 
ocean with "the islands thereunto adjoining." West- 
chester and English towns on Long Island annexed. 

City of Amsterdam grants land on the Delaware to a colony 
of Mennonites. 

New Proclamation against the public exercise of any religion 
but that of the Dutch Reformed Continued persecution 
of the Quakers. John Bowne and others banished. 

1663. The whole of the Delaware River surrendered to the City of 

Amsterdam . 

The authorities in Holland reprove Stuyvesant's severity 
in his treatment of dissenters. They would like some 
connivance, "at least the consciences of men ought to 
remain free and unshackled." The Directors insist on 
liberty of conscience, but not on liberty of worship, public 
or private. 

New Haven Puritans continue to negotiate for a settlement 
under Dutch jurisdiction. 

Massacre of the Dutch at the Esopus. Vigorous war against 
these Indians. 

Connecticut foments a revolt of the English on Long Island. 
Stuyvesant tries to refer "the matters unsettled to both 
superiors." Connecticut knows no New Netherland 
without "a patent for it from his majesty, but agrees not 
to exercise any jurisdiction "over the English plantations 
on the westerly end of Long Island," provided the Dutch 
agree to the same. 

Convention of Delegates from the Dutch towns in New 
Amsterdam. Remonstrance, with an exposition of the 
dangers from the English, adopted and dispatched to 
Amsterdam . 

Revolution on Long Island. Names of the English villages 
changed. 

1664. New Netherland granted to the Duke of York. The English 

towns of Long Island elect Captain John Scott "to act as 
their president until his Royal Highness the Duke of 
York or his majesty should establish a government 
among them." Stuyvesant agrees to have the English 
towns under the King of England for twelve months until 
the settlement of the question by his majesty and the 
States General, and Scott agrees to have the Dutch towns 
remain for the same period under the States General. 

General Provincial Assembly of the Dutch at New Amster- 
dam refuses to vote supplies in defense of the Province 
against the Indians and the English. 

Peace with the Esopus Indians. 

English towns received under the government of Connecti- 
cut, which claims Long Island for one of those Islands 
expressed in the charter. Scott imprisoned by Connecti- 
cut. Winthrop removes Scott's officers and installs 



4m w 






'■■'T^#'%r"W'"As 



- '-^ !% M 



^i; ?:3^4; •s-'fL y^'^:^^ 



■'# « m. m 

WMMM 
^ III M -Hj 
m WW M 

'-^^ *'i^'- "fif- ^^r 












r»fS?<-t-rp;yJ,.i.f 




'iiW- '?li .^ii # 1 

1 iif >lf .^il.M: 



' -M: "* '■•:;■ ^5f. 



MM .M- ;€ 






' W 'fit 'tif ^M' 

^^?: ,i#. i# m ^^ 









:| '^i^-- iif ^ :a|' 
■il^ m ii# .#: 

I"-..,' ■".:.,.(,' t.^v %'X; 



332 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Colonial History. New York State Library Bulletin, 56. 
Bibliography 24, 1901. 

Keen, G. B., Critical Essay on the Sources of Information 
(for the History of New Sweden or the Swedes on the Dela- 
ware), in Narrative and Critical History of America, ed. 
Justin Winsor, vol. iv. 468-502, 1884. 

Onderdonck, H., Jr., Bibliography of Long Island, in Furman, 
Antiquities of Long Island, ed. by F. Moore, New York, 1875. 

New York Public Library Bulletin : 

Check List of American County and State Histories in the 
New York Public Library, vol. v, 11. 

Works Relating to the State of New York in the New York 
Public Library, vol. iv. 5-6. 

Check List of the Works Relating to the History of Brook- 
lyn and other places on Long Island now included in the 
City of New York, in the New York Public Library, vol. 
vi 3. 

List of Works Relating to New York City History in the 
New York Public Library, vol. v. 3. 

Religious 

Bowerman. A Selected Bibliography of the Religious Denomi- 
nations of the United States, New York, 1896. 
- Hurst, J F., Literature of Theology (with a bibliography of 
American Church History), New York, 1896. 

Jackson, S. M. Bibliography of American Church History, 
1820-1893, in vol xii. of American Church History Series, 
New York, 1908. 

New York Public Library Bulletin. List on the Churches and 
the Ecclesiastical History of New York in the New York Pub- 
lic Library, vol. v. 5. 

(ii) Guides to Manuscript Materials 

Andrews, C. M. Davenport, Frances. Guide to Manuscript 
Materials for the History of the United States to 1783 in the 
British Museum, in Minor London Archives and in the librar- 
ies of Oxford and Cambridge, Washington, 1908. 

Annotated List of the Principal Manuscripts in the New York 
State Library. State Library Bulletin. History 3, Albany, 
1899. 

Brodhead, J. Romeyn. Calendar to the Holland Documents 
in the Office of the Secretary of State at Albany, Transcribed 
from the originals in the Royal Archives at The Hague and 
the Archives of the City of Amsterdam in New York Papers. 
Final Report to the Governor, February 12, 1845. Senate 
Document 47, Albany, 1845. 

Catalogue of Historical Papers and Parchments received from 
the Office of the Secretary of State and deposited in the New 
York State Library, Albany, 1849. 

Check List of the Municipal and other Documents Relating to 



334 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Dutch Patents. 

Book GG. 1636-1649. 
BookHH. 1654-1664. 

(Manuscript Index: "Index; Account of Dutch Records; 

Alphabetical Index of the Two Dutch Books of Provincial 

Patents GG and HH." 

List of Patents in GG and HH, in O'Callaghan's Cal. Hist. 

MSS. vol. i, pp. 36 4-387. 

Translations of Book GG, vol. xxvi. 1642-1649, 514 pp. F. 

byD. Westbrook, July 23, 1841 — "on whole satisfactory 

and reliable." 

Contents: Patents of July 12, 1630 — September 20, 1651, in 

GG. Deed of Maryn Andriesen to Jan Jansen Damen, 

September 20, 1642 (N. Y. Col. MSS. ii, 53). Commissions 

to Martin Crieger and Cornelis van Ruyven, September 

22, 23, 1659 (N. Y. Col. MSS.xvii.68). 

Translations of Dutch patents and transports, 1652-1674, 86 

pp. F. by James Van Ingen. — "carefully prepared." 

Contents: Parti, of Book HH. Patents of September 5, 

1652 — October 15, 1653. Translations of Dutch Patents, 

1654-1655, 171, pp. F. by James Van Ingen — "Correct and 

satisfactory." 

Contents: Part 2 of HH. Patents of February 26, 1655 — 

April 5, 1664. Translation of "Index" of Dutch Patents, 

1 63 0-166 1. 49 pp. F. Index of Names to the Translations — 

"not implicity to be relied upon." 

Albany County Clerk's Office 

Court minutes of Fort Orange: 
Vol. i. 1652-1656, 321 pp. F. 

Contents: Minutes of April 15, 1652 — December 12, 1656, 
MS. Cal. by B. Fernow (Fort Orange Recs of October 4, 
1656 — December II, 1657 are in N. Y. Col. MSS. vol. xvi. 
Part 2, pp. I. 124. 

Vol. ii. 1658-1660; Mortgage No. I, 1652-1660, 447 pp F. 
Contents: Title on front page: "Fort Orange Proceedings, 
deeds, Indian treaties, bills of sale, etc., bonds, etc., powers 
of attorney, January, 1652 — November, 1660." 211 pp. Min- 
utes of the Court of Fort Orange, Januarys, 1658 — Decem- 
ber 2, 1659, calendared by O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. MSS. vol. 
i. (Dutch), pp. 317-322. 

Mortgages, etc., calendared in MS. Cal. in County Clerk's 
Office. 

(Fort Orange Recs. of January 13, December 30, 1660 in 
N. Y. Col. MSS. vol. xvi. part "3, pp. 133-232.) 

Notarial Papers of Beverwyck, 
Vol. i. 616 pp. F. 1660-1676. 

Contents: Contracts, leases, inventories, bonds, indentures of 
apprenticeship, powers of attorney, etc., acknowledged 
before Dirck Van Schelluyne and Adriaen Van Ylpendam, 



i 


''\i\^% 


^m^fSk 


1 







:.#/- 1*r .'VilT 



M JC^ ^% 



336 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

vi. Burgomasters and Schepens, 1662-1664. 
viii. Burgomasters and Schepens, 1657-1661. 
Two Additional Volumes: 

Vol. i. Original records of Burgomasters and Orphanmasters, 
Surrogates. 
ii . Record of deeds , bonds etc . , of New Orange , 1671-74. 

(Translations by O'Callaghan in MS.) 
Vol. I. Mortgages of lots and pieces of land in the City of 
New Amsterdam, 1654-1660. vol. ii. of original. 

2. Deeds and conveyances of real estate in City of New 

Amsterdam, 1659-1665, 380 pp. Contents of iii. 
and parts of v. and vi. of original. 

3. Deeds and conveyances of real estate in City of New 

Amsterdam, 1654- 163 8, 311 pp. Contents of iii. 
and parts of v. and vi. of original. 

4. Register of Salomon Lachair, notary public of New 

Amsterdam, 1662-1664, 432 pp. vols. iv. and 
viii. and part of Orphan's Court Records of orig- 
inal. 

5. Register of Waleyn van der Veen, notary public of 

New Amsterdam, 1662-1664, 115 pp. vol. vi., in 
part, of original. 

6. Deeds and Mortgages of lots and tracts of land in the 

City of New York and New Orange, 166 4- 1675, 233 
pp. vol. ii. of Additional Volumes and a part of 
vol. V. of original. 

7. Powers of attorney, acknowledgments, indentures of 

apprenticeship, inventories, deeds, etc., 1651-1656. 
185 pp.: vol. i. of original, in part. 

8. Minutes of the Orphans' Court of New Amsterdam, 

1656-1668, 399 pp. vol. i. of Additional Volumes. 
Printed by B. Fernow, "Minutes of Orphan Mas- 
ters' Court of New Amsterdam, 1656-1663; Minutes 
of the Executive Boards of the Burgomasters of 
New Amsterdam ; and Records of Waleyn Van der 
Veen, Notary Public, 1662-1664, New York, 1907. 

Hall of Records, Kings County, Brooklyn 

Gravesend Records (wholly in English). 
Vol. i. Town Records, 1646-1653. 
Town Records, 1653-1669. 
Town Records, 1656-1844. 
Town Records, 1662-1699. 
1. Town Records, 1645-1701. 

(There is hardly a remark of a religious nature in 
these books except in the town charter) . 

New Utrecht Record (wholly Dutch) . 
Vol. i. Town Records 1657. 

The Dutch title: Het Bouk Van Het Durp Utrecht. Ao 1657. 
The book is prefaced by two religious poems of Nicasius de 
Sille: "Het Aerdt-Rijck spreeckt tot sijne opquekers," and 






M^'M 



.til- # /4., ^'% 



Svf V--i1 *?iS, ^f«l 

[ 'if ^4| jtfi * 

.|;i- Wi M '^^ ^ 

! -.-■' •V-..^r' ^./V •VV,-i'. 



338 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

India Company, on expeditions to Delaware; commissions 
and instructions for officers of the colony ; letters and re- 
ports of governors; other colonial records, diplomatic inter- 
course with foreign nations. __ 

(The Correspondence between Oxenstierna and Blommaert has 
been edited in the original by G. W. Kernkamp, Brieven van 
Samuel Blommaert aan den Zweedsche Rijkskanselier Axel 
Oxenstierna, 1635-1641. in Bijdragen en Medeelingen van 
het Historisch Genootschap (Utecht). 29 dell, Amsterdam, 
1908. 

Library of the new York Historical Society 

New Netherland Papers. Dutch Manuscripts. 

Lenox Library, New York 

New Netherland Papers: 1636-1660. 

Contents : Letters of governors, petitions, extracts from letters 
and other papers in the colony, accounts kept with the home 
government, list of houses and various other colonial docu- 
ments, about thirty items, mostly contemporary or early 
copies, with some modern transcripts. Unbound. From 
the Brevoort collection. Cf. Catalogue of the Moore Library, 
pt. 2. no. 1791. 

Holland Society Library, New York 

Minutes of the Consistory of Brooklyn, Sept. 5, 1660 — July 30, 
1664. (MS. Translation by D. Versteeg.) 

Sage Library, New Brunswick, N. J. 

Ecclesiastical Records of the Dutch Reformed Church in New 
Netherland, obtained from Holland Archives: Classis of 
Amsterdam, Synod of North Holland in Amsterdam, Gen- 
eral Synod at The Hague. 

1. Original. 

2. Transcripts. 

(Nearly all of these printed in the Ecclesiastical Records of 
New York. Vol. i. Cf. Introduction to this work for a classi- 
fication of this material). 

(C) PRINTED DOCUMENTS AND SOURCES 
Provincial 

Aitzema, L. van, Saken, van Staet en Oorlogh in ende omtrent 
de Vereenigde Nederlanden. 15 vols. The Hague, 1657- 
1671; 7 vols. 1669-72. 

(Extracts relating to New Netherland Transl. in New York 
Historical Society Collections. 2d. Series, vol. ii. 1849.) 

Breeden Raedt aende Vereenichte Nederlandsche Provintien 






r'hi'M 



ul M ''€ ..^^ 

^^r ?4 j# .Hg. , 
:.^- to: 'ii^ M A^ 



340 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Murphy, Henry C. NietiwNederlandt's Anthologie. Anthology 
of New Netherland; or Translations from the early Dutch 
poets of New York, with memoirs of their lives, New York. 
1865. Bradford Club. 

O'Callaghan, E. B. Laws and Ordinances of New Nether- 
land, 1638-1674. Albany, 1868. 

O'Callaghan, E. B. Documentary History of New York; 
arranged under the Secretary of State. 4 vols. Albany, 1849- 

51- 
Vertoogh van Nieu-Neder-Land, Weghens de Ghelegentheydt, 
Vruchtbaerheydt, en Soberen Staet desselfs. The Hague, 

(The manuscript, which is a little different from the printed 
tract, transl. as "Remonstrance of New Netherland," 1856, 
in New York Colonial Documents, i. 271-316, reprinted in 
Pennsylvania Archives, 2d. Series, v. 124-170. 
The printed tract transl. by Henry C. Murphy in New York 
Historical Society Collections, 2d. Series, ii. 251-329. 1849; 
by Mr. James Lenox in a separate pamphlet, also containing 
the Breeden Raedt; finally a revised version of this by A. 
Clinton Crowell in Narratives of New Netherland. ed. J. 
Franklin Jameson, pp. 293-354.) 

Vries, David Pieterz de, Korte historiael ende journaels 
aenteyckeninge van verscheyden voyagiens in de vier deelen 
des wereldts-ronde als Europa, Africa, Asia ende Amerika 
gedaen, etc. Alckmaer, 1655. 

(Extracts relating to Newfoundland, New Netherland and 
Virginia, transl. by Henry C. Murphy in New York Historical 
Society Collections. 2d. Series, iii. 1-129. Separate print 
by James Lenox, 1853. 

Extracts relating to New Netherland, 1 633-1 643 in a revised 
version of Mr. Murphy's translation, in Narratives of New 
Netherland, ed. J. Franklin Jameson, New York, 1909). 

United States Commission on Boundary between Venezuela 
and British Guiana. Report of, vol. ii. Extracts from 
Dutch Archives. Also Senate Document No. 91, 55th Con- 
gress, 2d Session (1898). 

Wassenaer. N. van. Historisch Verhael alder ghedenck- 
weerdichste Geschiedenissen die hier en daer in Europa etc., 
voorgevallen syn. 21 vols. Amsterdam, 162 2-1635. 
(Partsr elating to New Netherland transl. as "Description and 
First Settlement of New Netherland," in Documentary 
History of New York iii. 27-48, in New York Historical 
Society Proceedings, 1858, and finally a revised translation 
ed. by J. Franklin Jameson in his Narratives of New Nether- 
land, pp. 61-69, 1909.) 

Regional 

Patroonship of Rensselaerswyck 

Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts, Being the Letters of 









n 






^ if >ir j%f j4 

"i 1# Bi: 1 



342 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

(Reprint in Marquad's Tractatus. ii. 542-52.) 

Kernkamp, G. W. Brieven van Samuel Blommaert aan den 
Zweedischen Rijkskanseleir Axel Oxenstiema, 163 5-1 641. 
Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisc Genootschap. 
(Utrecht). 29 Deel., Amsterdam, 1908. 

Kurtzer Extract der vornemsten Haupt-Puncten, so biszher 
weitlauffig und griindlich erwiesen, und nochmals, jeder- 
manniglich, unwiedersprechlich ftir Augen gestellet sollen 
werden. In Sachend er neuen Suder-Compagnie. Gedruckt 
zu Heylbrunn bey Christoph Krausen, Anno, 1633. Mens. 
Aprili. 
(Reprint in Marquad's Tractatus. ii. 541-2.) 

Manifest und Vertragbrieff, der Australischen Companey im 
Konigreich Scweden aufifgerichtet. Im Jahr MDCXXIV. 
(Reprint in the Auszfiihrlicher Bericht iiber den Manifest.) 

Marquadus, Johannes. Tractatus Politico-Juridicus de Jure 
Mercatorum et Commerciorum Singular i. 2 vols. Frankfort, 
1662. 

Navorscher, De. Two letters from Johannes Bogaert, 
"Schrijver," to Bontemantel, Director of Dutch West India 
Company. August 28 and October 31, 1655, N. S. in regard 
to the arrival of the ship De Waag at New Amsterdam with 
some details on the conquest of New Sweden, not elsewhere 
noted. Amsterdam, 1858. 

(Translation by Henry C. Murphy in Hist. Mag. ii. 257et seq. 
New York, 1858.) 

Octroy eller Privilegier, som then Storm agtigste Hogborne 
Furste och Herre, Herr Gustaf Adolph, Sweriges, Gothes och 
Wendes Konung, etc. Det Swenska nysz uprattade Sodra 
Compagniet nadigst hafwer bebrefwat. Dat. Stockholm, d. 
14 Junii, 1626. (Cited in Acrelius). 

Octroy und Privilegium so der Allerdurchlauchtigste Grosz- 
machtigste Piirst und Herr, Her Gustavus Adolphus, der 
Schweden, Gothen und Wenden Konig, Grosz-Fiirst in Finn- 
land, Hertzog zu Ehesten und Carelen, Herr zu Ingerman- 
land, etc. Der im Konigreich Schweden jiingsthin auffge- 
richteten Siider-Compagnie allergnadigst gegeben und ver- 
liehen. Stockholm, gedruckt bey Ignatio Meurern. Im 
Jahr, 1626. 

(Reprint in Marquad's Tractatus. ii. 545-52. Translation in 
Col. Doc. N. Y. xii. 7 et seq.) 

Octroy ofte Privilegie soo by den alderdoorluchtigsten Groot- 
machtigen Vorst ende Heer, Heer Gustaef Adolph, der 
Sweden Gothen ende Wenden Koningh, Grootvorst in Fin- 
land, Hertogh tot Ehesten ende Carelen, Heer tot Inger- 
manland, etc., aen de nieuw opgerichte Zuyder Compagnie 
in't Koningrijck Sweden onlangs genadigst gegeben ende ver- 
leend is, Mitsgaders een naerder Bericht over 't selve Octroy 
ende Verdragh -brief door Willem Usselinx. In's Graven- 
hage, By Aert Meuris, Boeckverkooper in de Papestraat in 
den Bybel, anno 1627. It also contains Usselinx's Utforligh 
I Forklaring. 



344 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLA ND 

Orr. Charles: History of the Pequot war, etc., Cleveland, 
1897. 
Winthrop, John. History of New England. In Original Nar- 
ratives of Early America, ed. by J. Kendall Hosmer as 
Winthrop's Journal. 2 Vols., 1908. 

Municipal 

Fernow, Berthold, ed. Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 
to 1674 Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens 
1653-1674, Administrative Minutes, 1657-1661. 7 Vols. 
New York, 1897. 

(The administrative minutes from February 11, 1 66 1 , May 20, 
1664, were not printed. These valuable records were dis- 
covered among the personal effects of the late Lieutenant B. 
E. Fernow, and returned by Dr. Burrage, the State historian 
of Maine, to the librarian of the City of New York.) 

Munsell, Joel. Annals of Albany. 10 vols. Albany, 1850-9. 

Munsell, Joel. Collections on the history of Albany from its 
discovery to the present time. 4 vols. Albany, 1865-71. 

Pearson, Jonothan. Early Records of the City and County of 
Albany and Colony of Rensselaerswyck, 1656-1675. Albany, 
1869-1872. 

(Reprinted with a "Key to the names of persons," "Contribu- 
tions for the geneologies of the first settlers of Albany," and 
"Diagram of the home lots of the village of Beverwyck," in 
Munsell's Collections, etc. vols. iii. 1-224; iv. 84-510.) 

Records of the Towns of North Hempstead. 8 vols. 1896. 

Valentine, David Thomas, comp. Manual of the corporation 
of the City of New York, N. Y., 1842-70. Historical index to 
Manuals, 1841-70. New York, 1900. 

(No volume issued for 1867. New series beginning in 1868 is 
less valuable from a historical point of view, than the pre- 
ceeding issues to 1850, which contain important historical 
materials : extracts from early records of the city, Dutch and 
English, etc.) 

Religious 

Bowne, John. Journal of, partly printed by Onderdonck, H. Jr. 
in the American Historical Record, i. 4-8, Jan. 1872. 
"Persecution of an early friend or quaker copied from his 
journal." Manuscript copy by the same author in Long 
Island Historical Society Library, Brooklyn, preceded by 
a copy of Bowne's Account book. 

Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York. 6 Vols. 
Albany, 1 901- 190 5. 

(Vol. i. covers Dutch period. Published by the State under 
the supervision of Hugh Hastings, State Historian. Docu- 
ments compiled and edited by E. T. Corwin.) 

Fernow, B. ed. Minutes of Orphan Masters' Court of New 
Amsterdam, 1656-1663; Minutes of the Executive Boards of 
the Burgomasters of New Amsterdam; and Records of 



346 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

1659. Lalemant. Lettres en voices de la Nouvelle-France, 
1659. Paris, Cramoisy, 1660. Jes. Rels. xlv. 

Journal des J^suites, Janvier a D^cembre, 1659. Jes. Rels. 
xlv. 
1659-1660. Relaton de la Nouvelle-France, 1659-1660. Paris, 
Cramoisy, 1661. Jes. Rels. xlv. 

1660. Journal des Jdsuites, Janvier a D^cembre, 1660. Jes. 
Rels. xlv. 

1660-1661. Le Jeune, Relation de la Nouvelle-France, 1660- 

1661. Paris, Cramoisy, 1662. Jes. Rels. xlvi. xlvii. 

1 66 1. Chaumonot. Lettre du P. J. M. Chaumonot. Quebec, 
20 Octobre, 1661. Jes. Rels. xlvi. 

1661-1662 Lalemant. Relation de la Nou veil-France, 1661- 

1662. Paris, Cramoisy, 1663. Jes. Rels. xlvii. 

1662. Journal des J^suites, Janvier h D^cembre, 1662. Jes. 
Rels. xlvii. 

1663. Journal des Jdsuites, Janvier k D^cembre, 1663. Jes. 
Rels. xlvii. 

Megapolensis, John. Een kort Ontwerp vande Makvase Indi- 
aenen, haer Landt, Tale, Statuere, Dracht, Godes-Dienst 
ende Magistrature, aldus beschreven ende nu kortelijck den 
26 Augusti, 1644 opgesonden uyt Nieuwe Neder-Landt, 
door Johannem Megapolensem juniorem, Predikant aldaer. 
Alkmaer. No date. 

(Printed in 165 1. Amsterdam by Joost Hartgers in his "Be- 
schrijvinghe van Virginia, Nieuw Nederlandt, etc." 
Translation by Ebenezer Hazard in "Historical Collections, 
i. 517-526. 1792. Revised version by J. R. Brodhead in 
N. Y. Historical Society Collections. 2d Series, iii. 137-160. 
A more revised version in Narratives of New Netherland. 
ed. J. Franklin Jameson, pp. 168-180.) 

Megapolensis, Reverend Johannis, Reply of to a Letter 

of Father Simon Le Moyne, a French Jesuit Missionary of 
Canada, 1658. Collegiate Church, New York, 1907. 

Versteeg, Dingman. Manhattan in 1628, as described in the 
recently discovered Autograph Letter of Jonas Michaelius, 
written from the settlement on the 8th of August of that 
year and now first published. New York, 1904. 
(Letter to Joannes Foreest of Horn and Director of the West 
India Company. Found in the sale of Manuscripts in 
Amsterdam, 1902.) 



(D) SECONDARY WORKS 

General Histories 

Hart, A. B. ed. The American Nation. A History from 
Original Sources by Associated Scholars New York, 1904. 

Doyle, J. A. The English Colonies in America. 5 vols. New 
York, 1889-1907. 



If he % hc * M « M J' 



m. Ml. m 



ill. M '^m Mil 

rfl"- '?I0- ^if \# V^ 



M '^. M M: 



348 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Ferris, Benjamin. A History of the Original Settlements on 
the Delaware. Wilmington, 1846. 

Keen, Gregory B. The Dutch and Swedish Colonies on the 
Delaware. Delaware County Historical Society, vol. i. 
Chester, Pa., 1902. 

Keen, Gregory B. New Sweden, or the Swedes on the Dela- 
ware. In Justin Winsor's Critical and Narrative History of 
America, vol. iv. 442-488. 

Odhner, Professor Clases Theodor. Sveriges Inre Historia 
under Drottning Christinas Formyndare. Stockholm, 1865. 
(Parts transl. by Keen:" C. T. Odhner's account of Willem 
Usselinx and the South, Ship, and West India Companies of 
Sweden. The report of Governor Johan Printz of New 
Sweden for 1647, and the reply of Count Axel Oxenstiema, 
Chancellor of Sweden," in Pennsylvania Mag. of Hist. vol. 
vii.) 

Odhner, C. T. Kolonien. Nya Sveriges Grundlaggung, 1637- 
1642, in Historiskt Bibliotek, Ny Foljd. i. Stockholm. 1876. 
(Translation by Keen. Pennsylvania Mag. of Hist. iii. 269, 
etc., 395, etc., 469 etc., Philadelphia, 1879. 

Sprinchorn, Carl. K. S. Kolonien Nya Sveriges Historia. in 
Historisk Bibliotek, 1879. 

(Transl. by Keen. Pennsylvania Mag. of Hist, and Biogr. vii. 
viii.) 

English Settlements on Long Island 

Bergen, Teunis. Early History of Kings County. 

Flint, Martha Bock^e. Early Long Island. A Colonial Study. 
New York, 1896. 

Furman, Gabriel. Antiquities of Long Island with a Bib- 
liography by Henry Onderdonk, Jr., 1875. 

Onderdonk, H. Jr. Queens County in Olden Times, in Ameri- 
can Historical Record i. 1872. 

Thompson, B. J. History of Long Island, including also a 
particular account of the Different Churches and Ministers. 
3 Vols. 1843. 

Municipal 

Innes, J. H. New Amsterdam and Its People. New York, 

1902. 
Mandeville, Henry G. Flushing, Past and Present. Flushing, 

L. I. i860. 
Moore, Charles B. Early Hempstead. Hempstead. 1870. 
Onderdonk, Henry, Jr. Annals of Hempstead. Hempstead, 

1878. 
Onderdonck, Henry, Jr. Antiquities of Hempstead, 1878. 
Ostrander. A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings 

County, 1894. 
Riker, James. Annals of Newtown, 1852. 
Stiles, Henry R. History of Brooklyn including the Old Town 

and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwyck, etc. 3 Vols. 

Brooklyn, 1867. 



3 so RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND 

Onderdonck. H., Jr. Antiquities of the Church of Jamaica. 
1880. 

Onderdonk, Henry, Jr. Antiquites of the Parish Church of 
Hempstead, including Oysterbay and the Churches in Suf- 
folk County. Illustrated from Letters of the Missionaries 
and other Authentic Documents, 1880. 

Oppenheim, Samuel. The Early History of the Jews in New 
York, 1654-1664. New York, 1909. Also in Am. Jew. Hist. 
Soc. Pubis. No. 18. 1909. 

Thomas, Allen C, and Richard H. The Society of Friends. 
Am. Church Hist. Ser. vol. xii. 1908. 

Thompson, Robert Ellis. Presbyterians, Am. Church. Hist. 
Ser. vol. vi. New York, 1902. 

Walker, Williston. Congregationalists, Am. Church Hist. Ser. 
vol. ii. New York, 1903. 

Whittemore, Henry. History of the First Reformed Protest- 
ant Dutch Church of Breuckelen, 1896. 

(F) BIOGRAPHY 

Kapp, Friedrich. Peter Minuit aus Wesel. In Von Sybel's 

Hist. Zeitschrift. xv. 225 et seq. 
Jameson, J. F. Willem Usselinx. In Am. Hist. Assoc. Reports. 

vol. ii. Separate Ed. New York, 1887. 
Mickley, Jos. J. Some Account of William Usselinx and Peter 

Minuit. Wilmington, 1881. 
Tuckerman, Bayard. Life of Peter Stuyvesant. New York, 

1905- 

(G) AUXILIARY INFORMATION 

Brakel, Dr. S. van. De HoUandsche Handelscompagnieen der 
Zeventiende Eeuw. Hun Onstaan — Hunne Inrichting. 

Blok, Petrus J. A History of the People of the Netherlands. 
4 vols. New York, 1907. 

Cambridge Modern History., vol. iii. The Wars of Religion. 
New York, 1905. 

De Schrevel, H. C. Remi Drieux, ^v^que de Bruges et les 
troubles des Pays Bas. Revue d'Histoire Eccl^siastique. 
ii. 828-839; iii. 36-65, 349-369, 644-688; iv. 645-678. 

Hubert, Eugene. Les Pays-Bas Espagnols et La R^publique 
des Provinces Unis Depuis ■ La Paix de Munster Jusqu'au 
Traict6 D' Utrecht, 1648-17 13 La Question Religeuse et 
Les Relations Diplomatiques. Bruxelles, 1907. 

Knuttel, W. P. C. De toestand der Nederl. Katholieken ten 
tijde der Republiek. 2 vols. The Hague. 1892-4. 

Laspeyres. Geschichte d. volkswirthschaftlichen Anschauungen 
d. Niederlander z. Zeit d. Republik. No. xi. Preischriften 
d. Fiirstlich Jablonowski Gesellschaft v. Leipzig. 

Mather, Cotton. Magnalia Christi Americana; or The eccle- 
siastical History of New England, 1620-98. London, 1702. 



mM'MM 



:i^ pf;' m^ 1^- H 
^ '^tfl; '^i '^ SI 

'^d w 'y -■ y€ 






-^^ 'f /If ;^: % 

#• fif ^c .1^' Tw 
■ ill 1CM.^<. 

■'*;-^.J- ^-.-o*; .^.*ii- "■^:^i 



.,; -^-;.^7'"- %. a»f 'V..;, t:,'s 



354 



INDEX 



Blom, Hermanus, Dutch Reformed 
minister in New Netherland, loo, 

lOI, 102, 103, 212 

Blommaert, Samuel, 109, no, in, 
112, 113 

Bogaerdt, Joost van, 115 
Bogardus, Everardus Wilhelmus, 

Dutch Reformed minister in New 

Netherland, 48, 67, 68, 69, 70, 

71, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 269 
Bohemia, 38 
Bois-le-Duc, 31 
Bombay Hook, 199 
Bommel, 10 
Bonaire, 248, 251 
Bordeaux, 281 
Boswyck, 46 

Boursier, Joseph, Jesuit Brother,296 
Bouwery, 46, 99, 105 
Bowne, John, 4, 234, 235, 236, 237, 

239, 240, 241, 244, 245, 246 
Brabant, 14, 107 
Brahe, Peter, Chancellor of Sweden, 

118, 120 
Branford, 186 

Brazil, 38, 39, 62, 93,247,248,256,258 
Bressani, Francis Joseph, S. J. 

missionary, 283, 284, 285 
Breukelen, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 

100, 105, 176 
Bridges, 158 
Briggs, 158 
Brill, 19 

Bristol, N. Y., 301 
Bristol Channel, 81 
Broar, Ambroise, Jesuit Brother,296 
Bruges, 14, 16 
Brussels, 12, 13, 14, 21 
De Bruynvisch (ship), 206 

Calvin, John, 302, 303, 304 
Calvinism: in Europe, 196; in Neth- 
erlands, ID, II, 12, 13, 15, 16, 
106; in Dutch Republic, 18, 19, 
20, 21, 22, 25, 28, 29, 32, 34; in 
Geldern, 24; in Holland, 10, 13, 
26; in Zealand, 10, 13, 19; in 
Antwerp, 14; in Bruges, 14; in 
Brussels, 14; in Ghent, 14; in Ger- 
many, 38; in New Sweden, 118; 
cf . Dutch Reformed Church 
Cambridge, Academy of, 104, 177 



Canada, 271, 276, 291, 293, 295, 296' 
297, 300, 301, 302, 304, 308, 309 

Canarise, 176 

Cape Henlopen, 116 

Carleton, (Sir Dudley) Lord Dor- 
chester, 23 

Carribean Is., 251 

Cartwright, 156 

Cat Nation (Eries), 292, 298, 301 

Catechism; of Heidelberg, 28, 98; of 
Luther (in Lenni-Lenape), 119 

Catherine de Medici, Queen Regent 
of France, 31 

Catholicism, in Brazil, 248; in Neth- 
erlands, 10, II, 12, 13, 14, 15, 
i6,i7;in Dutch Republic, 19, 22, 
23. 32, 34; in Brabant, 22; in 
Drenthe, 21 ; in Friesland, 24; in 
Geldern, 24, 34; in Holland, 10, 
15, 17, 24, 34; in Overyssel, 34; 
in Stadt en Landen, 21; in 
Utrecht, 34; in Zealand, 10, 15, 
17, 24; in Alckmaar, 24; in 
Gouda, 24; in Haarlem, 24; in 
Hoorn, 24; in Leyden, 24; in The 
Hague, 24; in Koevorden, 21; 
in New Netherland, 97, 141 , 257 , 
261, 283, 289, 299, 303; 
in New York, 142; on South 
River, 132; cf. Jesuit Missions 

Caton, William, 244 

Cayenne, 249, 265 

Cayugas of Iroquois 

Cessation, Act of, 28 

Charles I., King of England, 143, 

147- 153 

Charles II., King of England, 178 

Charles XL, King of Sweden, 192 

Charles River, 113 

Chaumont, Joseph S. J., mission- 
ary, 295 

Christina, Queen of Sweden, 112, 
115, 117, 128 

Christina Kill, 199 

Church — Reformed, 166, 196, 208, 
211, 269; in Dutch Republic, 18, 
19, 20, 23, 25, 29, 31, 33, 41, 61, 
67, 71, 146; in Drenthe, 21; in 
Gelderland,34; inHoUand, 17; in 
Overyssel, 34; in Stadt en Landen, 
21 ; in Utrecht, 34; in New Neth- 
erland, I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 43, 45, 



^«L- :'^- .*^. .?'^i.. .;'m:- J^^'^i..J^^...ryi':^"^e,: 



355 






f - ti| W W 1« 



I li 



K 1i 



f' ill ,'^. ^..^ .,„ 



\M:. :€ M.. M. i 






356 



INDEX 



Drenthe, 21 

Drisius, Samuel, Dutch Reformed 
minister in New Netherland, 55, 
86, 90, 155, 159, 160, 165, 169, 
171, 172, 176, 189, 191, 194, 203, 
205, 206, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 
231,247, 273 

Drueilletes, Gabriel, S. J. mission- 
ary, 311 

Drunkenness in New Netherland, 
48, 77, 82, 271, 272, 273 

Duke of Anjou, 17, 18 

Duke of Arschot, Governor of Flan- 
ders, 14 

Duke of Parma, cf. Farnese 

Dunkirk, 76 

Du Perron, Francis, S. J. mission- 
ary, 297 

Dutch Republic, 10, 17, 20, 30, 32, 
33.34,38,39-41- 58,66, 73-91- 
136, 146, 184, 195 

Dutch in New Sweden, 120 

Dutch Swedish Company, I ID, iii 

Dyckman, Commissary, command- 
ant of Fort Orange, 289 

East Chester, 150 

East India Company, Dutch, 36, 
37, 190 

East Indies, 37, 41 

East Phalia, 135 

Egyptians, 220 

England, 57, 90, 105, 145, 146, 159, 
175- 179-253-283 

English: in America, 71, no, 116, 
145, 269; in England, 179; in 
New England, 3, 153, 270; in 
New Netherland, 4, 35, 47, 48, 
62, 63, 71, 90, 104, 105, 135, 136, 
138, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 151, 
153- 155- 158, 162, 163, 167, 169, 
170, 173, 175, 178, 180, 181, 182, 
183, 184, 185, 203, 215, 217, 224, 
227, 234, 257, 275; in New Swe- 
den, 5, 112, 118, 130; in Rhode 
Island, 149 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 14, 
18, 19, 21 

Elsland, Claes van, 53 

Enckhuysen, 112, 113 

Eries cf. Cat Nation 

Esopus, 100, loi 



Esopus Indians, 98 
d'Estrades, Godefroi, Count, 32 
Everett, Richard, 7, 176, 231, 233 
Exemptions, tax, 88 
Europe, 84, 107, 124, 166, 180, 183, 
196, 214, 266, 277, 284 

Fairfield, 175 

Farnese,Alexander, Duke of Parma, 

16 
Farrett, 143 
Farrington, Edward, 221, 223, 226, 

234 

Feake, Robert, 152 

Feake, Tobias, 4, 219, 221, 222 

Ferdinand, Emperor of Germany, 38 

Ferry, 99 

Ffen, Benjamin, 181 

Field, Hannah, 235 

Finland, 116 

Finns in New Sweden, 115, 124, 133 

Flanders, 14, 107 

Fleming, Claes, Swedish Admiral, 
no. III 

Flemish Bastard, 291 

Florida, in, 113 

Flushing (Holland), 19 

Flushing (New Netherland), 3, 4, 
55, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 
197, 219, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 
230, 234, 235, 236, 245 

Fluviander, Israel (Holgh?) Swed- 
ish Lutheran minister in New 
Sweden, 119, 120 

Fonseca, Joseph, 249 

Fordham, Jonah, English Presby- 
terian minister in New Nether- 
land, 160 

Fordham, Robert, English Presby- 
terian minister in New Nether- 
land, 45, 154, 155, 159, 160 

Fort Amsterdam, 285 

Fort Casimir, 121,122, 123, 124,128 

Fort Christina, 112, 114, 115, xi6, 
117, 121, 124, 193 

Fort Elfsburg, 121 

Fort Nassau, 112, 120 

Fort Orange, 59, 63, 77, 92, 205, 
212, 260, 261, 276, 289, 291, 295, 
297, 302, 306 

Fort Richelieu (Canada), 280 

Fort Trinity, 122 



ff . \ii m m 






■m^ 'M' "Hf lif/^ 



w Iff Ji^; !i|^ 



ryfi- Iff^ im- *«f' 

M If Vi"' :# M 
iiC M' -^^ M 

'if :M ^01 W; ,n 



358 



INDEX 



Hopton, 167 

Holy Martyrs, Mission of, 286 

Hubbard, Benjamin, 233 

Hudson, Henry, i, 36 

Hudson River Country, 3 

Huguenots: in France, 22, 107; in 
New Netherland, 284, cf. Wal- 
loons 

Hulst, 32 

Humphries, Master, 168 

Huntington, 174, 180 

Hurons, 276, 278, 280, 283, 284, 290, 
291, 293, 294, 297, 298, 307, 308, 

309, 314 
Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 150, 151 
Hutchinson River, 150 
Huyck, Jan, 61, 62 
Huyghens, Jan, 63 

de Ulan, Jan, 248, 249, 252 

Immigration, English, into New 
Netherland, 136-186 

Immorality in New Netherland, 
77, 91, 269, 270, 271 

Independents, 105, 142, 146, 147, 
I59> 17I1 I75> 189, 190, 194, 220, 
257 

Indians, 4, 48, 50, 52, 72, 78, loi, 
102, III, 112, 115, 123, 135, 150, 
151, 152, 153, 155, 161, 162, 167, 
170. 175. 193. 266-316, cf. 
Algonquins, Eries, Esopus In- 
dians, Hurons, Iroquois, Mis- 
ions, Mohegans, Nevesink In- 
dians, Raritan Indians, Rip- 
powan Indians, River Indians 

Ingermanland, 116 

Inquisition: in Holland, 28, 33; in 
Portugal, 256; in Spain, 256 

Intolerance cf. persecution 

Ipswich, 143, 145, 146 

Irish Catholic in New Amsterdam, 
283 

Iroquois, 271, 272, 276, 278, 280, 

283. 285. 286. 287. 288. 289. 291, 
292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 299, 
300, 305, 308, 309, 310, 311, 313, 
314, 316; Cayugas, 301, 309, 310, 
311, 312, 313, 314; Mo- 
hawks, 150, 273, 276, 277, 280, 

282. 285. 286. 287. 288. 290. 292, 
293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 299, 302, 



305. 306, 307, 308, 310, 313; On- 
eidas, 290, 305, 307, 308, 309, 
310, 313; Onondagas, 290, 291, 
292, 293, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300, 
301, 302, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 
312, 313, 314, 315; Senecas, 296, 

297. 301.310. 311. 313 
Isle de Sable, in 
Isle d'Orleans, 298 
Isle de Rh^, 285 

Isabella of Austria, Archduke, 21 ; 22 
Israel, Abraham, 254 
Israel, David, 254 
Isreal, Manasseh Ben, 258 
Itamarca, (Brazil), 93 

Jacquet, Jean Paul, vice-director of 

West India Company on the 

South River, 124, 125 
James, John, 228 
Jansen, Jacob, 276 
Jansen, Peter, 209 
Jamaica, 7, 176, 215, 219, 225, 230, 

231, 232, 234 
Jesuits: in Dutch Republic, 29, 30, 

33; in New Netherland, 141, 

276, cf. Missions 
Jeannin, President, 22 
Jews: in Dutch Republic, 24, 33; in 

New Netherland, 5, 132, 141, 

142, 189, 220, 247-265; in New 

York, 142 
Joanna, Popess, 303 
Jogues, Isaac, S. J. missionary, 141, 

276, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 

285, 286, 287, 303 
John of Austria, Don, Governor 

General of the Netherlands, 11, 

12, 13, 14 
John of Nassau, 34 
Jongh, Jacob, 125, 126 

Kalmer, Nyckel (ship), no 
Kieft, William, Director General of 
New Netherland, 48, 69, 70, 71, 
72, 74, 78, 79, 80 ,81, 82, 85, 141, 
143, 144, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 
161, 162, 163, 196, 197, 245, 276, 
282, 284 
Kling, Mans, 114, 115, 116 
Klopjes: in Dutch Republic, 30; in 
Geldern, 24 






mi wsi -1^ M 
m- M.. M:MM: 



36o 



INDEX 



Menard, Rene, S. J. missionary, 

296 
Mennonites, 5, 31, 34- 130, 132, HL 

169, 189, 190, 257 
Meuse, 34 

Mercier, Francis le, S. J. missionary, 

296 
Mercurius Germaniae, 180 
Mercurius (ship), 126 
de Mereda, Judicq, 254 
Mespath, 148, 149, 151, 155, 162, 

170, 196 

Messenger, Andrew, 7, 176, 233 

Michaelius, Jonas Johannes, Dutch 
Reformed minister in New Neth- 
erland, 40, 63, 64, 65, 67, 138, 
266, 267, 269 

Middelburg cf. Newtown 

Midwout, 47, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97> 98, 
99, 176, 243 

Milford, N. E., 181, 186, 196 

Milner, Michael, 220 

Mills, Richard, 173, 174 

Minuit, Peter, Director General of 
New Netherland, 61, 62, 63, 64, 
109, no. III, 112, 113, 114 

Minquaaskil, 116 

Missions among Indians: Dutch, 36, 
39, 75, 91, 266-275; English, 
269, 274; Scotch, 269; French 
Jesuit, 269, 274, 276-316; Swed- 
ish, 107, 115, 117, 118, 119 

Mohegans, 305 

Mohawks cf. Iroquois 

Molemacker, Frangois, 62 

De Molen (ship), 202 

Montezuma, N. Y., 301 

Montmagny, le Chevalier, de, 280 

Montreal, 290, 293, 294, 296, 297, 
298, 299, 307, 308, 309, 311, 313, 

315 

Moody, Lady Deborah, 167, 168 
Moore, John, English Independent 

minister in New Netherland, 171, 

172,173,174, 194 
Morals, Public, in New Netherland, 

48-60 
Morgan, Charles, 170, 2^ 
Morillon, 13 

Motthe, Jacques de la, 253, 254, 255 
Miinster, 31 



Nassy, David, 249, 265 

Namur, 13 

Nertunius, Matthias, Swedish Luth- 
eran minister in New Sweden, 
121, 123 

Netherlands, 10, 12, 19, 83, 106, 107, 
138, 145, i69,i84,259;cf. Dutch 
Republic 

New Amersfoort, 99 

New Amstel, 44, 47, 128, 129, 130,. 
132, 133. 134. 199-202 

New Amsterdam, 6, 43, 44, 45, 46, 
48,49.50,53. 55.56:57.58,63,64, 
69, 71, 72, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 
90, 93. 99. 122, 123, 124, 151, 
155. 158, 160, 162, 163, 166, 169, 
171, 175, 176, 187, 188, 192, 193, 
194, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 211, 
211,214,215,216,221,229, 231, 
235,236,238,239,243,246, 253, 
259, 260, 262,263, 265, 269, 273, 
282, 283, 284, 294, 299, 301, 304 

New Ark, 186 

New Castle, 121 

New England, 3, 58, 105, 136, 142, 
144, 146, 147, 150, 151, 153, 155, 
156, 160, 161, 167, 171, 173, 179, 

181, 186, 194, 269 
New France, 280, 311 

New Gottenburg, 118, 119, 121 

New Haarlem, 103 

New Haven, 7, 154, 178, 179, 180, 

182, 184, 186 
New Jersey, 186 

New Netherland Company, 37, 145 

New Plymouth, 269 

New Rochelle, 150 

New Sweden, 4, 6, 106-136, 192, 

193, 203, 259 

Newtown, 171, 172, 173, 174, 176, 

194, 230 
Newtown, Captain, 158 
New Utrecht, 103 
New York, 158 
Nevesink Indians, 184 
Nicolaes, the Frenchman, 97 
Nine Select Men, 6, 82 
Noble, William, 221, 223 
Noorman, Lawrence, 206 
Nordlingen, 108 

North River, 44, 103, 143 
North Sea, 311 



m. M M- MM^. 'M- M.;w M 



'# '■i^f k's^C '(sir 'slT 'itii :'.M^ 5#f IMI 



361 



v| ^if" :'^ Ij^ ,'?^ 












k --rK.. ^%. J%. 'i% 



^€ w M; .^1 ^* 



if- f4| jilt M.i- 



362 



INDEX 



Qualifications, religious, for office: 
in Cayenne, 249-250; in Dutch 
Republic, 29; in Gelderland, 29; 
in Holland, 29; in Overyssel, 29; 
in New Netherland, 5-7, 102, 
127, 168, 169, 179, 187, 189, 204 

Quebec, 290. 291, 295, 296, 297, 298, 
302, 307 

Raguenau, Paul, S. J. missionary, 

297. 313 
Rammekens, 19 
Raritan Indians, 184 
Rasieres, Isaac de, 269 
Remonstrants, 25, 28, 29, 31, 106 
Remund, Jan Van, 64, 68 
Rensselaer, John van, 91, 92, 271 
Rensselaer, Kiliaen van, 6, 64, 68, 

74-75.76,77.268 
Rensselaers-Steyn, 77, 270 
Rensselaerswyck, 3, 6, 43, 44, 47, 

72, 74, 83, 84, 90, 91, 270, 271, 

272, 274, 276 
Rhode Is., 148, 149, 152, 165, 214, 

215, 218 
Rijnsburgers, 34 
Rippowan Indians, 154 
Rising, John Claesen, Governor of 

New Sweden, 121, 124 
River Indians, 294 
Robinson, 144, 145 
Rochelle, 135, 280 
Rodenburch, vice-director of Cu- 

ra9oa, etc., 251, 252 
Roelandsen, Adam, 67 
Rome, 299, 302, 303 
Rotterdam, 27 
Rovenius, Vicar Apostolic in Dutch 

Republic, 23 
Rustdorp cf. Jamaica 

Sabatarians, 142 

Sabbath regulations, 48, 49-53, 157, 

170, 227-228 
Sael, Thomas, 164 
Salem, 145, 167, 168 
Salem Creek, 118 
Sanders, 156 
Sankikah, 116 
Schaats, Gideon, Dutch Reformed 

minister in New Netherland, 90, 

91. 92, 93. 95. 212,274 



School in Dutch Republic, 23; in 
New Netherland, 20, 43, 44, 
46-47, 66, 67, 70, 82, 83, 91, 100, 
loi, 104, 129, 133, 141, 192, 195, 

274 

Schoorel, 75 

Schott, Joseph, 229 

Schrick, Paulus, 191 

Schultetus, Dutch Reformed min- 
ister, 73 

Schuylkill, 121 

Scotch, 269, 289 

Sects cf. Dissent 

Selyns, Henricus, Dutch Reformed 
minister in New Netherland, 98, 
99, 100, 103, 105, 133, 212 

Senecas cf. Iroquois 

Ship Company of Sweden, 108 

Ship and South Company of Swe- 
den, 116 

Sille, Nicasius de, 99, 221, 259 

Siperius (Zyperius), Michael, Dutch 
Reformed minister in New 
Netherland, 103 

Sixt, Abraham, 37 

Slave trade regulations in Cayenne, 
265 

Sluys, Andries van der, loi 

Smith, Joan, 55 

Smith, Richard, 55, 148, 162 

Smith, William, 162 

Smits, Anna, 170 

Snediger, Jan, 94, 95 

Socinianism, 25 

Solidarity, religious, of New Neth- 
erland and New England, 144- 
146, 151, 158, 179, 180, 181, 182, 

183 
Solms, Count of, 139, 140 
Solms, County of, 139 
Sonnontouan, cf. Seneca 
South Company of Sweden, 108, 

109 
South & Ship Company of Sweden, 

no 
Southampton, 143, 160, 161 
South River, 4, 5, 44, 50, in, 112, 

113, 115, 116, 118, 120, 121, 122, 

123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 

132, 133. 134. 135. 192, 199. 202, 

260, 261 
South Sea, 176 






mm M M « 



;■«■ v«if- s*,?,, ,<■»?,; .^-« 

■ M ii| -M 5il 
■if W- M Hf J-^ 



364 



INDEX 



Truce, Twelve Years' (1609), 22, 
23. 29. 36, 37, 38 

Turks, 220 

Turner, William, 164 

Twiller, Wouter van. Director Gen- 
eral of New Netherland, 64, 67, 
68, 69 

Underhill, Capt. John, 3, 137, 153. 
163, 165 

Union of Arras, 16 

Union of Brussels (First), 11; (Sec- 
ond), 15 

Union of Utrecht, 16, 29 

United Provinces cf. Dutch Re- 
public 

Upsala, Council of , 117, 192 

Utrecht, 4, 19, 27, 33, 34 

Usselinx, William, 36, 37, 38, 106 , 
107, 108, 109, no, 115, 247, 266 

Varleth, Judith, 185 

Veluwe, 34 

Venice, Republic of, 24 

Verleth, Maria, 56, 57, 58 

Verhulst, William, Director of New 

Netherland, 61 
Vestensz, William, 83 
Virginia, 104, 136, 146, 159, 165, 

269, 283 
Visch, Procurator, 14 
Vliegende Hert, Het (ship), 114 
Vredeland, cf. Westchester 
Vries, David P. de, 68, 71, 72 
Vriesendael, 150 
Vrydach, Andrew, 51 

De Waag (ship), 122, 204, 205 

Waldenses, 135 

Waldron, Resolved, 231, 234, 235, 
236, 240 

Walker, Zacharia, English minister, 
177 

Wallabout, 99 

Walloons, 61, 63, 64, 65, 107, 289 

Watertown, 152, 153, 154 

Waugh, Dorothy, 214, 215 

Weather sfield, 155 

Weeks, Francis, 229 

Welde, Rev. Th., 152 " 

Welius, Everardus, Dutch Re- 
formed minister in New Nether- 



land, 130, 134, 202 
Wesel, 64 

Westchester County, 150, 151, 175 
West India Company, i, 2, 6, 36, 
37- 38, 39-47. 50, 66,67, 70, 71. 
82, 85, 92, 104, 106, III, 112, 
113. 114, 133, 136, 137, 138, 140, 
145, 150, 153, 163, 179, 195, 197, 
247, 256, 258, 259, 266, 267, 268; 
College of the XIX., 37, 39, 62, 
66, 67, 140, 146, 268; Amster- 
dam Chamber, i, 2, 4, 5, 7, 39, 
42,43, 44-45. 76, 81, 82, 83, 85, 
90,93,101,103,105,112,113, 122, 
123, 128, 134, 139, 140, 141, 144, 
160, 184, 185, 188, 189, 190, 198, 
199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 207, 
208, 210, 211, 212, 242, 243, 244, 
245, 246, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 
255, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262, 264, 
265, 275, 287, 296, 297; Enck- 
huysen Chamber, 112, 113; 
Zealand Chamber, 249, 250 

West India, America or New Swe- 
den Company, 117 

West Indies, 38, 41, 112, 114,200, 
248. 253 

West Phaha, 135 

Westminster Assembly, 146 

Weather sfield, 154 

Whally, 178 

Whorekill, 130, 132 

Wickendam, William, 165, 166 

Wild Coast, 250 

Willemeyntje, 55 

Williams, Jan, 130 

William Lewis of Nassau, Stadt- 
holder of Friesland, 20, 21 

William, Prince of Orange, 11, 13, 
14, 15, 17, 18 

Williams, Roger, 149 

Wilson, George, 231, 232 

Wiltwyck, 6, 10 1 

Winthrop, John, Governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, 143, 150, 151, 152 

Winthrop, John, Jr., Governor of 
Connecticut, 179, 184 

Witchcraft, 185 

Witherhead, May, 214, 215 

Woeler (Wheeler?), 127 

Woolsey, George, 158 



^C *C -'4 € .'*6i M- ;# 'tl ;* 
!| M |C >l :M i€ MM i«l 



365 



3, 17. 19. 

sh Luth- 
Sweden, 



f m M 



:^ :^il M .^i| ri 
r W- M ^- M ■ 
^#' « M M- m 

'^'..J: ■■-'■.«•-■ ^-»-..V?. ■-■•_,^,- ■ 



^■•■,{r 4T^-^ \m^ >-^i-^ 

^df If vtf^' :m[ .^f 

• ill M M ^* 
^if • M M' M M 

• i*^ 'i* W m ■ 



H 99 78 



f :*^' j^,.^ jM:.. 



[ tf[ t^ M it: s» tt j# * J 






'\L„ ^f'-'i .= '"^i- 






■- vi' ■'■- ^^ * f. ■'- -4-' 'fr 
-f . :. »S ■-■.■■ . ■':' d 






.11 •.■.-: ;:'H 3-^lt ..**■ 






!«|''|<j€ 



.If, 'M'M' 



'M'MX.M^. 



< M ,M M i^^ 









'^^ 

^^. 







'0^ 








.% 



■^' 



^ "-^v,/ 

^ 



V4> 






^ A 
^^^9^ 



-^' 



e ^ 






'fyf '*|i'" '^^- 'fi^ 






^^>^' ^- 






i 






.-^' 



^vrxi^' 



^ 



CM If M i»^ 

\.l sS r,4i£'- «i/f .«»-.'!' 5^ 



